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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28065015">The Most Wonderful Time of the Year</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlepclaynos/pseuds/mlepclaynos'>mlepclaynos</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>12 Days of Christmas, Amy Santiago Loves Jake Peralta, Candy Canes, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gingerbread House, Holiday Sweaters, Holidays, Hot Chocolate, Jake Peralta Loves Amy Santiago, Mistletoe, Pre-Relationship, holiday fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:47:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>27,473</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28065015</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlepclaynos/pseuds/mlepclaynos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the 12 days of Christmas with Jake and Amy (and Mac)!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jake Peralta &amp; Amy Santiago, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Candy Canes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I can't believe it's already holiday season!</p><p>2020 *shudder* has been crazy and needs to end off of a good note, and what's better than 12 days of Peraltiago?!</p><p>I have 12 short one shots planned out, each based around a Christmas related object!</p><p>Fingers crossed I can keep up and I hope I can make a few people happy this holiday season with this! :)</p><p>So let's kick this off with some sweet Christmas candy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <span class="u">Candy Canes</span>
  </strong>
</p><p>The division of their desks was clear from the day she sat down across Jake Peralta. It had taken Amy Santiago one look at the various toys and sticky notes placed all over his work surface before she knew it had to be made clear – their desks may have been joined but he was to keep his sticky orange soda covered hands away from the threshold of her workspace. She had let her new messy haired colleague watch her taking a sanitizing wipe when she first sat down, marking her need for her clean space when she cleaned off the top of the desk, pushing the paper balls and what looked like a leftover bite of a bagel onto his side. She took her seat and began to place her belongings along the border of their shared desks, picture frames at the perfect angle, her writing utensils placed in an organized display, and the two files she had been given lay in the center contrary to the folders with papers sticking out thrown all over Peralta’s desk.</p><p>Amy had watched him roll his eyes at her, opening his mouth to say something and she could only hope he wasn’t like the detectives at her old precinct, constantly underestimating her and asserting dominance over her. She clenched her hands together under the desk, trying to keep her confident demeanour put together, but it was difficult to hide her surprise when he picked up a pack of gum from behind her desktop monitor, and walked away with a smirk &amp; smug comment about how she would have to go on without minty fresh breath. Her eyes followed him when he walked into the breakroom and she watched her new partner struggle to put a crumpled dollar into a vending machine to buy his sour gummies. She tried not to grimace when he sat back in front of her, making it difficult for her to look down at the file before her, his loud smacking of the candy at 9 am making her pity his dentist. She rolled her eyes at him when he saw her visible annoyance but continued to act as if nothing had happened. She would always remembering thinking his smacking had gotten louder just to annoy her and the day ended with her desk needing to be wiped clean of the sugar that coated the edge connecting his desk.</p><p>It was like trying to work with a 5 year old when it came to sharing a space with Jake Peralta. But she couldn’t lie to herself that she was glad when he had nodded at her and said goodbye with a smile before leaving for the day, the other detective Charles following him way too enthusiastically for some reason. Jake was exactly the person who she would choose to sit far away from, but she couldn’t stop herself from telling him she looked forward to working with him.</p><p>It was only because he was a better work partner than her old partner who always felt the need to put her down. Jake was a decent person and she was a polite person, she looked back at her paperwork and tried to justify the smile she gave him as he gave her a final nod when he got onto the elevator.</p><p>As she rode the subway back home that day, she couldn’t help but faintly smile once again at the thought of the man she would spend years working across from; a man child who did everything that annoyed her, but she couldn’t find it in herself to tell him off. </p><p>
  <em>(Little did she know she would be proud to call that man child her husband in a matter of years, smiling whenever she woke up next to him.)</em>
</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>That first day felt like it was ages ago, she thought as she rode the elevator to the fourth floor. Jake Peralta was chaos, but he was sheer brilliant chaos that she had to ignore as he sat right in front of her.</p><p>She thought she could always keep her head down and work without having to interact with him, but for some reason they made a great team, her calm working with his chaos, and they were constantly partnered together to solve the tough cases. It made it harder for her to keep a straight annoyed face when he went off joking about a perp’s name that sounded like sexual innuendo, she found herself biting the inside of her lip to stop herself from reacting to his elaborate pranks, and she had to her roll her eyes when he would start singing of dancing around their desks.</p><p>Amy would never admit it, especially with so much riding on their bet, but she enjoyed glancing over and watching his mind put together a puzzle in a way the rest of the squad couldn’t do, save for herself. She would never use the words cute or adorable, but that never stopped her eyes from wandering towards him when he would slump his head onto his desk like a child or play with the knick knacks on his desk. She wouldn’t admit she was worried when he would not show up to work, always commenting louder than needed about how irresponsible he was until their captain would tell the bullpen that Jake was out sick. That announcement had nothing to do with how efficiently Amy worked and how quickly she left that day or why she had left chicken soup and blue Gatorade outside of his door, knocking it softly before she rushed away realizing how embarrassing it would be to bear his jokes again.</p><p>
  <em>(If only she had stayed, she would have seen the messy bed hair she would eventually spend evenings brushing her hands through while he cuddled her.)</em>
</p><p>And as she stepped off the elevator, her slightly heavier and bulkier bag in hand, she wished she hadn’t been sitting across from him yesterday. She regretted getting involved in anything that wasn’t work when it came to Jake.</p><p>Yesterday she had watched him completely off his usual focus on a serial killer case, which seemed like the 8th wonder of the world, instead his sole attention on his phone. He wasn’t seeing anyone, she only knew because Charles kept hyping him up at Shaw’s whenever he got the chance, so he wasn’t having girlfriend problems. She had walked away to work in the breakroom to keep a distance from him and his personal problems. But when he walked into the same room an hour later, her B&amp;E was completely forgotten about. Head down she heard him mumbling to himself, words as inaudible as his handwriting was illegible, pulling out his normal crumpled dollar from his pocket. She was able to stop herself from jumping in her seat when his fist collided with the vending machine, it was out of sour gummies.</p><p>He didn’t get angry like that, unless she counted the time a perp had passed on a comment about her being a female detective. He walked away muttering an apology her way, void of any form of humour. Something was wrong with him. She took a peek at the paper in her hand – missing TV and cash – but the paper fell back into the folder when the corner of her eye caught Jake and Charles on the roof. She felt like she was prying and she wished she had closed the window that allowed the name Roger Peralta to enter the break room.</p><p>She wished for a moment they were close friends. When she walked back to her desk, she acted normal as if she didn’t know about his dad bailing on him once again. She wished she didn’t know he had planned on showing his dad a New York Christmas, explaining how he was going to make it seem just like it did in the movies. The unsaid words were <em>so he would come visit more</em>, but she had let the unfinished sentence linger. For once she didn’t want to even attempt a witty comment.</p><p>And now she took a seat at her desk across him, his appearance completely disheveled from a lack of sleep, making it obvious he had slept at his desk. The man had no work-life balance, she shook her head while carefully placing her bag on the floor.</p><p>“Morning Peralta.”</p><p>He looked up at her, and the same smile he gave her on his first day was on his face. But she wasn’t his new colleague anymore, she knew that smile didn’t reach his eyes and she couldn’t even imagine what it was like to have his holidays ruined like they had been. She would never be able to understand what it must be like to spend the times meant for family, alone with a reminder of everything from his childhood he pushed away. It wasn’t fair. And a pit formed in her stomach thinking about the man who made the whole squad laugh – whether it was at him or with him or whether it was out of annoyance or amusement – would be spending his Christmas morning alone. She almost wanted to invite him to her place, but why would she do that? How would she even invite him?</p><p>“Morning Santiago! Ready for me to solve your B&amp;E?”</p><p>His voice was rough, but he still attempted to sound smug although she knew he probably solved her case to move ahead in their bet but also to spend the day annoying her about it. She had noticed it after he went through his last breakup, apparently getting on her nerves worked as a distraction for him. She rolled her eyes, a habit to do so when she saw that smirk on his face. Promising to blow her mind with his grand reveal after he grabbed his coffee, he groaned getting out of his chair.</p><p>Once sure, he was too busy figuring out what had happened to the ancient coffee maker they had, she looked around the relatively empty bullpen. Assured no one would dare see her doing this, she pulled out a bright green package, peppermint canes visible through the clear front. She had walked into the grocery store yesterday and the seasonal items were on display right at the entrance. She would have normally passed by the items, her Christmas decor had already been up for a few weeks now and all her presents were neatly wrapped and sitting in a perfectly stacked pile in her living room. Her eyes had stopped at the candy canes and her mind immediately took her to Jake. There was almost nothing she could do to make him feel better after he was effectively abandoned by his father yet again – emphasis on almost. Before she knew it, she found herself imagining the child like excitement he would have on having the stripped candy and the green package was in her shopping cart, her mind stopping short of imagining him enjoying a candy cane.</p><p>That’s how she ended up breaking the first rule she had set when she started at the nine-nine. Assured no one was looking at her, she quickly opened up the pack of candy and placed it in pencil holder she grabbed from her extra supplies. She carefully moved aside the red and green paper chain, adorned along the border of their desks, a result of his attempts to distract himself from his father’s absence. And on that day, for the first but certainly not last, Amy Santiago broke one of her rules for Jake Peralta. Placing the holder with the treats she brought in for him on the border of their desks, she quickly got up and threw away the package in Scully’s trashcan.</p><p>Sitting back at her desk, she turned on her computer to busy herself with her work, genuinely curious as to what he had figured out about her B&amp;E. Hearing a thud of a mug, she looked up and found him with steaming hot coffee with milk being forwarded across the desks. Grabbing the hot mug, she wondered if she still had the chance to hide the candy canes, something he obviously hadn’t noticed.</p><p>“Hey! Candy cane!”</p><p>Amy could have started her victory dance right there and then. It felt like it had been forever since his voice sounded genuinely happy, the higher pitch returning when she looked at him with an eye roll. As he grabbed a candy cane, struggling to open the wrapper, he looked up at her with the smile he usually had when proposing a crazy idea. She didn’t try to hide her smile as she watched him thank the lords of sugar, enjoying his candy cane for breakfast. Never acknowledging it, she smiled inwardly needing to focus on her work instead of Peralta’s lips.</p><p>She would still pity his dentist and for a few days, she would have to clean off bits of candy cane off her desk and but he literally looked like a kid in a candy store as he filled his need for sugar. And it was worth it. She wouldn’t dare think it and wouldn’t say it for some time, but her heart knew Jake Peralta was worth it.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>(7 years later…“Jake! Are you feeding the baby a candy cane?!”)</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for this first one shot! </p><p>I hope you all enjoyed it! Any kudos/comments you could leave would mean so much!</p><p>Also if there's any small tidbits (such as Jake feeding Mac candy canes) that I am unable to post on here that you might be interested in, I'm on tumblr as mlepclaynos99 if you would chat or get a glimpse of other things I have in the works! :) </p><p>Happy Holidays everyone!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Gingerbread House</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Their first holidays together and Amy learns something new about her boyfriend.</p>
<p>Jake has never made a gingerbread house and Amy grew up making one every year.</p>
<p>She had to change that.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! Back with Day 2 and it's time for gingerbread houses!</p>
<p>Thank you for the kudos and comments on the first one! </p>
<p>I hope you all enjoy this one!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <span class="u">Gingerbread House</span>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>“I’ve never made a gingerbread house before.”</p>
<p>Jake shrugged and began picking at the out the lettuce out of his sandwich while Amy pulled her phone away from him, her face contorting into a confused surprise. She had been raving about her nephews building their gingerbread houses disappointed that she was unable to visit them for the holidays but this new fact about her boyfriend distracted her completely from photos &amp; reminiscence of her childhood holidays. If there was any holiday activity Jake would enjoy, she always assumed it would be the one involving all the sweets, imagining a young Jake sneaking gumdrops and marshmallows when no one was watching.</p>
<p>Her confused face turned into a sympathetic look that reflected the stinging she felt in her chest as it hit her. She couldn’t imagine it, she couldn’t place Jake sneaking candies because there was no one watching him during the holidays. She couldn’t imagine him making a gingerbread house when there was no one to every bake gingerbread for him like her mother had done for her, there help him create a house when he was too small to build a sturdy structure to covered in sugar like her dad would do, and – feeing grateful for her brothers in that moment – he had no other siblings who would share the spirit of family with him.</p>
<p>The entire holiday season was a time to celebrate with family, and it was hard to do when your father was no where in sight and a mother who was only present symbolically. The holidays were a reminder of how his evenings were spent alone with the company of movies – Home Alone being a favourite just for the title before he discovered Die Hard – and the <em>creative</em> snacks he would invent for himself. Subconsciously, she slipped her phone containing pictures of quality family fun into her pocket before she looked back at her boyfriend, wishing there was some way she could take away everything his family situation had put him through.</p>
<p>Seeing Amy lost in her thoughts as she stared at the table of the breakroom, her lunch untouched, Jake sighed knowing she had understood his disinterest in any festivities she brought up. Now she knew why he didn’t care for the winter months where happy families like hers, sat around fireplaces enjoying delicious meals, while he sat in an apartment as cold as the weather, microwaving frozen meals and falling asleep on the couch waiting for his mother.</p>
<p>But Amy loved Christmas, evident from the way she talked about her large family’s celebrations and the way she had thoughtfully bought presents for every single family members, her hand written notes to acquaintances, and the way she had very easily given up her time off to visit family to allow other squad members to spend time with their families. He never understood the hype around Christmas but spending the last few months with Amy had taught him what the spirit of the holidays was…it was his girlfriend. And the woman who was trying to make everyone happy didn’t need to be brought down by his dismissive attitude. The least he could do was put aside his annoyance with the holidays and let her enjoy the holidays she enjoyed so much. He didn’t want to lose the spark of warmth she had brought into his life – quite literally and figurative – with the comfort of her cuddles as they watched movies together warming him when he fell asleep, not having to spend this cold season alone. He cleared his throat making her look his way, a sadness reflecting in her eyes that he knew he was the reason for, and that was unacceptable.</p>
<p>“It’s no big deal Amy. I don’t know how to make one, and besides it seemed like too much work. I mean, why put candy on the house only to take it off to eat it? Just buy a bunch of candy and eat it.”</p>
<p>He shrugged the matter off, plastering a wide grin when he finished talking and his brows raised as they always were when he tried to express how obvious his logic was.</p>
<p>But Amy wasn’t ready to let him wallow in the ghosts of Christmas past, because today he wasn’t alone anymore…for she was here to stay. She placed her hand on his knee under the table, giving it a squeeze as she proposed an idea to him.</p>
<p>“Why don’t we make one? I always loved piecing the house together, watching it all fit like a puzzle. It’s satisfying to watch it all come together.”</p>
<p>His brightness in his smile reflected in his eyes for the first time since she had started talking about her family’s Christmas traditions and how much she missed spending the time with her family. He nodded watching the frown disappear from her face as she imagined the precision used to make sure the tiny house doesn’t fall apart. His girlfriend was such a cute dork. And he couldn’t say no to her, unaware her excitement had more to do with seeing him happy than the gingerbread house itself.</p>
<p>“That sounds amazing, but only if you’re buying the good candy!”</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes and was about to argue whether good candy meant it was the kind that was better for him. But he was joking which meant he had already compartmentalized the thoughts of his childhood holidays and she wasn’t about to push it with him. She shook her head telling him she would have to get to making a list for when she went into the store if they were doing this.</p>
<p>“My place?” He asked as she got up to leave.</p>
<p>“Where else would I let you use icing?” She winked at him before walking out the door.</p>
<p>“Title of your sex tape?” He weakly asked unsure if that was his girlfriend unique way of flirting or a dig at the mess he had created when trying to bake a cake a while back.</p>
<p>~~~~</p>
<p>After wiping down every inch of his kitchen counter, Amy placed the bags full of everything they would need to create the perfect gingerbread house. Before she had a chance to separate everything in based on when they would need to use them, Jake’s face was stuffed with the jellybeans she had just bought, some of them slipping through his hands onto counter cleaned moments ago. She sighed trying her hardest to look serious and not laugh when he struggled to speak thanks to the fistful of jellybeans he had put in his mouth. As she placed a board down to create their house on, he walked around the counter stopping behind her looking at all the pieces of gingerbread that they would have to put together.</p>
<p>The smell of molasses, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon filled his usually bland kitchen making him feel like he had arrived at those nice bakeries that had were decked up for the holidays. Wrapping his arms around her waist as she set down the pieces of the freshly baked dough on the board, he rested his chin on her shoulder, the sweet smell a bakery accompanying her. She leaned her head to the right, touching her cheeks against his soft hair, letting him lean into her as she pulled out the icing Charles had been kind of to make on short notice.</p>
<p>“How about we build the Nakatomi Plaza instead of a boring old house?”</p>
<p>He wondered aloud as a joke when she unwillingly moved away from him, feeling comfortable letting him sway their bodies to his own humming. She passed him a piping bag and looked down at the cut outs ready to make a normal shaped house while he could see the wheels turning in her head trying to figure out how they could make a tower out of what they had in front of them. He had spent months silently admiring the way she looked when she was so focussed on her task, the way her lips slightly pouted and her brows furrowed, an innocence taking over her face, making her look like a she was younger than her. He couldn’t stop himself from leaning, his lips gently touching her cheek, afraid of disrupting the focused trance she was in.  </p>
<p>She looked up at him, lower lip pouting forward as she couldn’t figure out to fulfill his Die-Hard themed wish. If his best friend was here, he would have described the feeling Jake felt as melting into a puddle when he looked at his girlfriend taking something he had just thrown out so seriously, like his wish was so important.</p>
<p>She cared, about something as little as their gingerbread house. She cared about how he felt, caring about what he wanted instead of thinking everything he said was meant to be brushed off as a joke, like he was more than the class clown. She cared about him. He didn’t think it was possible to feel physically feel a warmth upon realizing he was something to someone. He was more than a fun night out, more than something casual, he was someone worthy of being more, and the way she snaked her arms around him, pulling him closer – if that was possible – told him he wasn’t imagining it.</p>
<p>“Let’s build a home Ames.”</p>
<p>He kissed the top of her head before parting back to take in the wide smile that took over her face. He had walked around the kitchen counter to stand across from her before she realized what his words had meant. Her smile became subdued as pink took over her cheeks and eyes lowered to the ground to avoid showing the happy tears that felt like they were coming forth.</p>
<p>She watched him trying to figure out how a piping bag worked, as if he didn’t know the impact of his words, a laugh almost leaving her as she thought of him ending up icing all over himself before the evening came to an end. She reached over the counter when he lifted the piping bag over his head wondering why he couldn’t get the icing to come out, grabbing it before his hair and face would be a sticky mess. As they started putting the pieces together, it ended up being more of Amy carefully piping together the walls of the house while Jake was busying providing music for her and adoring the way she was so careful and precise in her work. He found himself biting his lip down and sneaking candies from her to distract himself when she would open her mouth, her tongue sticking out in the slightest when she reached the tricky corners of the structure she was creating.</p>
<p>Clearing her throat when she found him staring at her, the look on his face telling her exactly what he wished he was doing in that moment, she had him next to her ready to listen to her next command. Asking him to hold down pieces of gingerbread together while she moved onto the next piece, she made sure to bend down slightly more than she needed to, knowing he was watching her as she worked.</p>
<p>Jake found himself clearing his throat and trying his hardest to not let his hands move to follow her instructions to stay still while holding the house. He needed a distraction before he would let go of the baked good and destroy her hard work. Spotting his abandoned piping bag, he picked it up without her seeing him and put it behind his back. Calling out her name when she had put the roof on the house, he waited for her to stand next to him wondering what he had broken like he claimed, only to feel a cool stickiness on her the corner of her mouth. She could have killed him when he held back the paper towels, letting the icing slide down her mouth as he sported a grin that aggravated her anger. Slowly letting go of the house, assured it would stay in place, Jake threw the roll of paper towels across his kitchen, not caring where they landed only to face his girlfriend’s offended face.</p>
<p>However, he was quick to change her mood when he slid his hands onto her hip, pulling her closer to him. As her front met his, she felt the result of her playful teasing and feigned an innocent look. But he wasn’t going to fall for it, one hand reaching to her icing free cheek, making her close her eyes ready for him to enjoying the sweet taste of royal icing. Only she found the familiar taste of a chocolate on her lips and opened her eyes. Looking down she found him holding up a Hershey’s kiss to her lips.</p>
<p>“Kisses.” He raised his brows, and she knew why he was annoyed when she had tried to be a tease.</p>
<p>“Jake…” She moaned out his name, letting him knowing she needed him to stop and indulge her in that stupid good sex they had. Knowing they had time before they could decorate the beautiful house she had created out of treats, he obliged, his tongue slowly licking off the icing on the corner of her mouth before seizing her lips in his, hands travelling up and down her body as she put her arms around him, ready for him to carry him to his bed.</p>
<p>~~~~~</p>
<p>Buttoning up his red flannel that hung down to her thighs, Amy carefully untangled their legs before slipping out of the bed. Jake got up behind her only to lean in for another kiss while slipping on his pajamas, something he had become an expert at ever since their first date. Following her into the kitchen where their incomplete holiday project waited for them, now ready for decorating, he jumped to sit on the counter. As Amy handed him a bag containing red licorice, knowing he would make a face if she brought actual black licorice that hadn’t been sweetened artificially, and M&amp;Ms he looked like a child who had seen Santa.</p>
<p>“Wow candy for dinner after that dessert, this is the life.”</p>
<p>Tossing a M&amp;M up in the air, he caught it in her mouth grinning with pride when she saw him. Throwing on her way, she still was no better at catching them just like that night on the rooftop. Before they knew it, there were M&amp;Ms all over the countertops and floor, and she had joined him on top of the counter. She sat with her back against his chest as they placed his favorite sweets, Amy making sure the house didn’t look like her nephews had thrown whatever they got their hands onto the house while Jake was doing just what her nephews would do. He only took his time when she handed him a gingerbread man to decorate to place in front of the house along with the gingerbread woman she had make. As he did his best to make a gingerbread version of himself look pretty enough to be put next to her decor, she rested her head against his chest, watching him enjoy carefully placing green gumdrops where he wanted them. She wouldn’t make him love the holidays overnight, but at least she was able to give him a one happy memory of gingerbread houses.</p>
<p>
  <em>A few months later</em>
</p>
<p>It may have been his first gingerbread house ever, but it was definitely not going to be his last.</p>
<p>She learned that the hard when he brought in the house to show off to Charles the next day and it became a fixture on his desk. But she wouldn’t have it any other way, her lips forming a smile whenever she saw his proud display of the house that was slowly falling apart, however it was starting annoy everyone else at work, until Terry took the chance he had to get rid of their hard work.</p>
<p>“Jake I order you to throw out that gingerbread house! It’s from Christmas!”</p>
<p>“Fine, but you’re going to be leaving a lot of ants with no home.”</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for this one!</p>
<p>I am writing these faster than I write my usual fics, so apologies if they aren't the best!</p>
<p>But nonetheless, I hope you all liked this one!</p>
<p>Cya tomorrow! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rudolph isn't the only one with a red nose during Jake and Amy's first December together.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Important Disclaimer! Covid does not exist in the universe of my writing, however it is a harsh reality. <br/>So please don't be like Jake and Amy in this fic, stay away from others if you feel sick. <br/>Please follow all guidelines, keep your distance from others and stay safe everyone!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amy unlocked the door to his apartment, her boyfriend sniffling behind her looking like he was ready to fall against the wall if she couldn’t get him inside to his bed soon. Suppressing her own cough as they walked in, she cursed whoever had brought a case of the seasonal December cold into the precinct which had made its way to Jake and herself now, although she was almost sure Jake had caught it first and passed it onto her in the most obvious way possible. It was also evident since her body wasn’t in a state of constant aching like his, the only reason he would have agreed to leave work in between a case. Although to be fair they had been ordered to go home by the captain before they “spread their disease to any remaining detectives” and everyone acting as if they were carrying around a plague, Gina’s pencil cross following them until they had given in arguing and agreed to go home.</p>
<p>Starting to feel the back of her throat aching and a cough building up in her chest, she headed to his bathroom to find out if he had any cough medicine, wondering if it would have been better to head to her apartment even though it was further away. Surprisingly, she found a cabinet with various medication, some of which were not yet expired and they would be able to take.</p>
<p>“Change before getting into bed.”</p>
<p>She quietly spoke out, her throat burning and scratchy from the coughing fit she had moments ago in the bathroom. Jake looked at her way from the couch he had slumped onto as soon as they had gotten in. A part of him didn’t want to move away from the couch, wanting to hide his face further into the cushions, but he also knew if he slept on the bed, he would be able to relax his head on his soft pillow and be under that blanket he wanted so bad right now. Groaning lightly, the strain of using his vocal cords making his throat hurt more than it already it, he shuffled his feet towards his dresser.</p>
<p>Stripping off his leather jacket and hoodie, scrunching his face when the cold air of his apartment hit him. Exhausted after working for exactly an hour and a half, he rummaged through the messy pile of stashed clothing in his dresser, pulling out his comfiest clothes – his beloved academy sweater and favourite flannel bottoms – when he saw his girlfriend standing in the kitchen. Going through his kitchen, she tried to find something for them to eat later on that would be suitable for someone who was sick. Of course it would take a while since the majority of his food was filled with 10 different condiments, takeout leftover, and nacho ingredients in his kitchen. He smiled wearily as he watched her pull out cans of soup he never remembered buying along, suddenly noticing he didn’t buy anything in the cupboard she was going through – when had she brought decent groceries for him?</p>
<p>He shook his head, watching Amy look around his stovetop, none of them knowing when it was last turned on. As he took off his blue flannel, he glanced back at her pausing when he saw the fine features of her face. Her cheeks were devoid of color, her face starting to look slightly pale bringing out the dark circles under her eyes – his fault since he was up coughing the night before – the effects of her cold starting to show and wear her out. Yet she stood in his kitchen, clad in a uptight grey pantsuit trying to take care of him like he was a child (<em>okay maybe he did act childish sometimes, but he wasn’t a child</em>). Even as the cold brushed on his bare chest, he felt warm inside like he had drank that amazing tea she had bought them this morning, and he looked down at the sweater in his hand. Setting it down on his bed, he went back to his dresser, grabbing a grey sweater and black sweatpants, leaving the comfiest clothes he could offer on the edge of the bed for her to change into.</p>
<p>Dropping his clothes onto a pile of the floor, his body unwillingly to do more than the bare minimum as much as he wanted to show Amy he was getting better at keeping his apartment slightly cleaner than before she had started staying overnight. Slipping into the bed, he failed to fight against his drooping eyelids, giving in his body’s desperate need to rest, but not before he felt his blanket being pulled up his chin and a feathery touch of her fingers going through his hair. He only remembered being unable to stop his proud smile – he was the luckiest person ever to have someone like her care for him – before sleep engulfed him.</p>
<p>An hour later, deciding to let him nap for some time while she showered the gross precinct off herself and make the canned chicken noodle soup for them, she stood at the corner of the room not having the heart to wake him up. Fast asleep on the bed, his arm thrown loosely off the side of the bed as always, she could hear him breathing through his mouth, sniffling in his sleep and all Amy wanted was sit next to him instead of move 6 feet away from the germs, like she had done for every other person she had ever dated. Sporting the soft fleece PJ bottoms and sweater he had left out for her, she sat down on the edge of his bedside, trying to wake him up in the gentlest way she knew. Her voice taking on a soft maternal tone<em>, a voice she would use for their son who she hadn’t even imagined in her wildest dreams yet</em>, one hand resting on his shoulder while the other stroked the top of his head.</p>
<p>Letting him take his time to realize he was in his bed and it was not the next day yet, she barely had the chance to say anything to him and found herself moving away from him &amp; using up a handful of tissues, her sniffles turning into sneezes. Rushing to his bathroom to grab his garbage bin for them to keep by the bed and wash her hands, she came back to a displeased Jake laying awake in bed. His grouchy grumpy face resembled the one of a kindergartner, when she moved a tray with two bowls, Gatorade for him, warm water for her and a box of tissues onto his bedside table.  </p>
<p>“I made some soup.” He looked at the tray and if she didn’t know how bad his throat hurt, she would have thought he was about to cry like a child woken from a nap.</p>
<p>“Jake eat.” She forwarded him his bowl as soon as he had caught his breath after a coughing fit while grabbing her own right after.</p>
<p>When he stared at her and shook his head negatively, looking like he was ready to cross his arms and she would doubt not calling him a child earlier, he earned himself an equally stubborn yet effective stare from Amy. She really wasn’t feeling well if she was suggesting they eat in bed. Taking the warm ceramic into his hands, only when he saw the exhaustion behind her tough look that was begging him to let her be and she wanted to be relaxed under a blanket as bad he did, he lifted the blanket and gestured for her to sit next to him.</p>
<p>Obliging happily, she slid into the warm bed and her body instinctively joining against his; her head on his shoulder as she began to eat quietly, concentration completely getting past the pain of swallowing and trying not to cough when she had soup in her mouth. But from the corner of her eye, Jake caught her attention when he kept playing with his food, only taking in three spoonfuls. She sighed, regretting the flare of pain it put on her throat, when she put aside her bowl and turned her body towards her boyfriend. Her eyes questioned him when he finally looked up at her feeling her gaze on him.</p>
<p>“Hurts.” His voice came out in a whispered croak contrary the cheerily high pitch he would spoken with had they been eating together in bed any other day. He pointed to his throat before looking back down, fiddling his spoon. Her heart went out to him, understanding why he wouldn’t eat even if he wanted to – evident from the grumble she heard from his stomach – and she rubbed her hand over his shoulder blade trying to be a comfort.</p>
<p>“I know babe, but you need to eat. Please.” She tried to be soothing but it came out as a plea knowing he had barely touched his dinner the night before when the soreness in his throat was just beginning. Jake hesitantly tried to do as she told him, pushing through the pain the normally soothing soup gave him, eventually able to get through more than half of it because she refused to stop rubbing his back and telling him she would let it go after one more spoon. He didn’t try to argue with her for the effort it would take to speak and the subsequent pain it would cause, and that’s what upset Amy perhaps more than his refusal to eat; the refusal to talk, a dark contrast to the normal demeanour of her boyfriend.</p>
<p>When she passed him the cold medicine and the sugary blue drink to wash it down with, after she had taken some herself, he held his hand out for her to places hers into. Sliding back into her side of the bed, she took his open hand slipping her fingers through his and placing her head onto his shoulder, only move her head back to look at him when he spoke up after what seemed like ages.</p>
<p>“Sorry.” He mumbled, his voice barely registered with her only for her to be confused about what he had done as she grabbed another tissue, her stuffy nose making her wish he would talk so she wouldn’t have to speak out in a nasally voice similar to his.</p>
<p>“Got you sick.” She would have kissed him if they weren’t both in bed on a Tuesday afternoon because they had been considered too sick to work. The thumb of her hand moved in circles over his hand, while she assured him a cold was not something he needed to carry any guilt for, as much as it was an unfortunate norm for him to do so.</p>
<p>“Jake that’s not your fault.” He shrugged, clearly not believing he wasn’t the reason Amy Santiago took a day off from work, as if he was the one who caused a cold to circulate at their workplace or if she wouldn’t have taken a day off to be with him knowing he would “sleep it off” if she was not around.</p>
<p>“Do you want watch Christmas movies?” She changed the topic as his eyes began to droop again, the credit going to the cold medicine he had just taken, neither of them ready or in the proper state to have the conversation about Jake’s need to pin guilt on himself.</p>
<p>“Die-”</p>
<p>“Hard is not on the table.” She stopped him, smiling sleepily as they lay down with pillow propping them just enough so they could fall asleep watching the movie she was going to be choosing. He was seriously sick if he wasn’t going to even try to convince her to watch Die Hard.</p>
<p>Jake was a clingy cuddler, and she was reminded of the fact when he handed her the remote and was instantly putting his arms around her and his head found it’s place by her neck when she brought him closer to herself taking him into her embrace. When he closed his eyes despite wanting to watch a movie, she patted his head gently carrying the affection she felt in her touch as she clicked on the first option under Christmas movies, letting the sounds take over in the background. Pulling the blanket up over his shoulder and then her own, she was just starting to close her eyes when she felt a familiar tickle in her nose. Sitting up, Amy picked the box of tissue off the bedside table and placed it next to herself as she sneezed comically making his drowsy eyes open to his girlfriend throwing a ball of tissues into the garbage bin, too tired to get up.</p>
<p>“Hey, it’s Rudolph.” His voice had a slightly higher pitch courtesy of the cold medicine as he glanced at the movie she had clicked on before taking the box of tissues from her for his own stuffy nose. Following her action of trying to throw the tissue, but failing miserable, he turned back to the TV. A chuckle left him before his brain could comprehend the painful repercussion, the cold medicine clearly working, when he looked between Amy and the TV.</p>
<p>“You look like him.” He let out a laugh that turned into a rough cough when his girlfriend looked at the TV with her mouth wife open in offence, although it was fair since she had seen the pink shade his own nose had taken from the tissues unaware hers was genuinely starting to look red like the cartoon reindeer.</p>
<p>“Speak for yourself.” Her lower lip stuck out in a pout as she rubbed his back as he coughed. Once his lungs had calmed down, she lay back down, still cuddling next to him unable to refuse her sick boyfriend the comfort he was seeking. Although she couldn’t believe he had compared her to a red nosed reindeer.</p>
<p>“You look cute.” He whispered as the exhaustion hit his body again and he felt the momentary adrenaline fading.</p>
<p>“With my red nose?” She tried to sound angry but it was hard to come across that way when he was sniffling and almost half asleep, and all she wanted to do was close her eyes to get some sleep.</p>
<p>“Love you red nosed Amy.” She heard the words as her body followed his, making her give in to her need for sleep.</p>
<p>“I love you too.” She resisted the urge to kiss his red nose, trying her hardest to not wake him up and settling for a kiss on his forehead.</p>
<p>She wondered if she had imagined the smile on his face when her eyes closed as soon as her lips parted from him. Within a matter of minutes, they were fast asleep lulled to sleep by the tune of the song about the red nosed reindeer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>A song she would find herself humming along to when a one and half year old Mac sat in her lap while her husband sang the lyrics to their son.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose.” She would watch the father and son tapping each other’s noses as they sat by the fireplace sipping on hot cocoa.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That was all for today! I know this one wasn't specifically holiday related, but this will be the only one shot like that - the rest of them will be more focused on the holidays! :)</p>
<p>I hope you all enjoyed reading this and please leave any kudos and feedback you can, I really appreciate it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Mistletoe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Undercover at a Christmas party, Jake can't take his eyes off his girlfriend and a brilliant idea comes to his mind.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope everyone is enjoying the fics so far! </p><p>Today's is slightly shorter since finals are happening atm and typing about insurance for 3 hours had me too tired to write more lol!</p><p>But nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy this one! :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <span class="u">Mistletoe </span>
  </strong>
</p><p>A few days till Christmas and the community hall was covered in an array of red, green and golden decorations brining a bland space to life. Blending in with the crowd gather for a night of dancing, silly games, and good food, Jake and Amy walked into the celebration, undercover on a case.</p><p>They had been on a handful of cases together since they started dating where they had to hide their identity, always posing a couple, and Amy letting Jake come up with some very interesting backgrounds for their love stories. Her favourite was the one in which she was a librarian and he was a physics major, which had her imagining him nose deep into books with his glasses, distracting her from their work altogether. On the other hand, she was sure he was enjoying his cover a bit too much today bringing back Dave Blathis, the amazing dancer whose toes she had stepped on two years ago and he had decided she was dancing protégée that he had swayed away by his mind blowing dancing.</p><p>She held back her laugh as slid his feet into through the door, trying to make a grand entrance, clad in his rented black suit, unbuttoning the jacket as he smirked at her. Rolling her eyes, she reached over and adjusted the collar of his crisp white shirt, hoping he wouldn’t spill any condiments on it throughout the night. Smiling when she leaned in, he offered her his arms and she gladly looped her arm around his, wondering if he would notice the dress she had pulled out of her closet, especially for tonight. And by noticing, she hoped it would more than teasing her about how she was dressed like the dancing lady emoji which he had put next to her contact in her phone on the ride over.</p><p>What Amy didn’t know was Jake had been doing his best to not get distracted from his work by looking at her, but was failing constantly. Why didn’t his girlfriend understand it wasn’t helpful that she looked like such a beauty while they were on duty?</p><p>Introducing themselves around the room, they knew they had an hour to kill waiting for the meetup they were here to bust, giving them a chance to enjoy the party they were crashing. They walked around, Jake moving along with the music feeling Amy hold onto his hand tighter whenever someone asked them to get into the dancefloor, knowing this wasn’t the place to attract attention to themselves with her amazing dances. Excusing themselves, they kept scoping out the area all the while munching on way too many sugar cookies and drinking more hot chocolate than they needed to.</p><p>But when Jake watched her step aside to help an older woman, he couldn’t stop himself from taking in just how beautiful looked. He had failed to spot the mermaid style of her form fitting red dress, remembering the sequined teal dress she had wore the last time she shared a dance with Dave Blathis. If he wasn’t already smiling, he saw her laughing, the shine of her red lipstick and pink cheeks made his smile grow wider, wondering how he got lucky enough that this amazing brilliant woman wanted to be with him. Lost in his trance, he didn’t realize he had overfilled his paper cup with orange soda, getting spatter of the orange color on his white shirt just as she had feared.</p><p>He rushed to the bathroom to clean off his sticky hands before Amy caught on to what had happened, although she had seen it coming a mile away. When he returned, she met his eyes from across the hallway, her eyes sparkling like an ornament shining under the lights as she turned her back to him throwing her bouncy curls over her shoulder, and he was by her side before he knew it.</p><p>This may have been a work event, but he had not been able to spend enough time with the woman he loved – as if all the time in the world would be enough – and he knew they had at least half an hour that wasn’t going to spend mingling about when he could enjoy the party with her.</p><p>Adjusting his suit jacket, he hoped she would be up to relaxing from looking around only to see the same face over and over again. Walking up to her, with luck was on his side as the music transitioned into a slower song, he forwarded his hand in front of her.</p><p>“Could I have a dance?”</p><p>She couldn’t stop the heat that rushed to her cheeks, turning them a darker shade of pink than they already were as the elderly woman she had been talking to patted her back before she walked away.</p><p>“You must hate your toes.” She looked down, only for him to shrug as his hand remain outstretched for her.</p><p>Delicately she placed her hand into his, letting him his thumb over the nails she had painted a celebratory red for the holidays, a shiver running her back when he grazed her empty ring finger. She looked back up at him, wondering how it would feel to wear a ring on that finger, the thought never having struck her before. Her distracted thoughts were halted when she felt one of his hands on her waist as the other remained clasped in her own. As he began to lead her onto the floor, she playfully placed her free hand on his shoulder, their fingers tapping on the other to the beat of the music. They stood in their own corner of the floor, as if they were the only two in the room full of people, his brow raised silently asking if she really wanted to dance. Her hands were surprisingly not sweating at the thought of slow dancing in front of a crowd and she nodded, letting him know he had to lead to save his own toes.</p><p>Slowly, they swayed to the music slowly catching onto the rhythm that synchronized their movements to the music. He began guiding her slowly in slow circles around the room, his eyes never moving away from him while she slowly forgot about nervousness to match his steps, locking her eyes onto his shy smile. She slowly found him moving closer and closer to her, and she let him continue until he was close enough for their fronts to touch. She placed her head onto his shoulder, letting him continue moving them along to the music. However, as she realized they were moving further and further away from everyone else and further into a corner, everyone else busy amongst themselves to notice them.</p><p>She looked up at him and found his innocent smile turned into a mischievous grin that she only recognized from their bedroom, right before she would be disrupting the sleep of his neighbours. Her heartbeat picked up excited yet confused as to what he was about to do while they were working, she questioned him with her eyes only to have him wiggle his brows as he stepped back from her, never letting go of her hand. Raising their joined hands slightly, he suddenly spun her in a twirl, the music now a background noise for the two of them. Landing gracefully in front of him, her hands stopping on his shoulder once again as his began to slide up and down her back.</p><p>In a few moments, he moved back from her once again, repeating his steps again, their hands raised as she was ready for him to twirl her. He wasn’t going to wait or tease her with his grin anymore unable to control himself, and judging by the look on her face, neither was she. He began to twirl her again, his hand now grazing by her waist as she realized they were moving even further away, the bright spinning room, now becoming dark. As he pulled her closer into his arms, her back leaning against his front, her breath hitched as she smiled with closed eyes until she knew the room would not spin. She felt a shiver running up her spine reacting to his warm breath on her neck, and his warm hands rubbing up and down her arm allowing her to go without shivering in a sleeveless dress.</p><p>When she opened her eyes again, she found he had led them into a tiny storage closet. Turned to face him, she found him smirking at her before he locked the door and looked up. Her eyes followed him and saw the red and green plant he had planted when he had disappeared after his spill. Her smile turned into a smirk that mirrored his, one of his hands taking their place on her waist while the other ran his fingers along her jaw, inviting her to make the first move.</p><p>Smiling, she tilted her head placing her lips against his while he leaned forward, his hand supporting her back as she felt herself closer to the ground yet secured in his embrace. Savouring her sweet red lips as he felt her fingers resting behind his ear and free hand running through his hair, he felt her body against his. As she took his bottom lip between her teeth, asking him to let this sweet kiss turn into something she desired, he obliged deepening their kiss. He didn’t realize when his back met the wall of the small storage and they had to part back to be able to breath. Foreheads touching as they tried to catch their breath, she played with a button on his shirt, giving him a hint that maybe she wasn’t so focussed on work either.</p><p>Thanking himself for his mistletoe idea, he was glad there was loud music playing outside the room and everyone was enjoying themselves in the Christmas spirit. No one noticing Amy had walked out of that closet fixing her hair and rushing to the bathroom to fix her lipstick while Jake knew someone was going to find his shirt’s broken button in that very closet.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Exhausted from chasing after a 3-year-old Mac and their newborn baby, she entered their room feeling terrible for asking him to cancel dinner reservations they had looked forward to for weeks. Expecting to head to bed immediately, she found her husband turning on a playlist with soft music on low volume to keep the children from waking up…his hand openly waiting for hers and a mistletoe hanging above him. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for for this mistletoe story! </p><p>I hope you all liked it, and any kudos or feedback you could leave would mean so much! :)</p><p>Once again hope you all enjoyed it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Bright Lights</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jake and Amy are decorating their first Christmas tree &amp; Jake is in charge of the lights!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter!</p>
<p>Day 5 is all about lights! </p>
<p>This chapter was just written really quickly right now at like 4am so it's definitely unedited. </p>
<p>But I hope you all still enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sounds of Taylor Swift’s 1989 album played in the background of Amy’s apartment, a first for her that made Jake feel at home as he walked from room to room.</p>
<p>“Amy, how do you store so many boxes in this apartment?”</p>
<p>Jake hauled the last of his girlfriend’s boxes with the printed labels of “Holiday Decorations”, stacking them into a pile in the living room. With her Christmas tree bare in the corner of the area, he looked back at the multiple containers that were neatly caring everything she would need to turn her home into a festive place, and he was going to help. Try to help. His place had never been decorated for the holidays nor had he ever helped anyone else with such a task, unless the paper chains he was taught to make in school counted. She loved Christmas and he never cared too much for holidays, but he did love her and how happy she was when December rolled around. So, he stood before her, patiently waiting for her to double check they had brought out all her decorations, clearing able to see her thought process as she planned how to go about decorating. He couldn’t help himself from taking a seat and watching the brilliance that she entailed work on something as simple as decor – it was simple, right?</p>
<p>She called out his name and he was snapped out the spiral he would head towards thinking of how he was going to destroy her perfectly organized house while trying to put up lights or break one of her very fancy looking ornaments, instantly standing up to listen to her.</p>
<p>“Okay, you can work on the lights for the tree and I’ll start putting up the fireplace decoration. Make sure you only use the golden globe lights. It’ll work with the color scheme for this year.” He nodded absently, completely ready to follow her lead until he realized what she had actually said. He figured he was going to be looking at a box and passing on whatever she needed, not being given the responsibility to actually put something on the tree.</p>
<p>“Wait! You want me to work on the tree? Why?” She giggled for a moment, already busy putting aside anything with a sub label reading “Lights” next to him, and he stood confused, trying to play off what terrified he was of ruining her perfect idea of what the living room was supposed to look like. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she assured him she was trusting him with a task she was sure he would do very easily.</p>
<p>“It’s the lights, I promise it’s easy. All the different lights are labelled, and the tree is all ready, you just have to wrap the lights around it.” He was about to sigh and protest, but gave in when she placed a soft kiss on his cheek before handing him a container full of lights.</p>
<p>Sitting down on the floor, he began to look for the specific lights she had asked for, repeating golden globe lights, trying not to think about the Golden Globe awards which would lead to him thinking about movies and TV – a distraction he couldn’t afford. He glanced up and found her concentrated on making sure the garland she was putting around her fireplace was beautifully aligned and satisfying to look at. Meanwhile he opened a second box of lights and started pulling out the neatly packed sets of lights that were bundled together with a heavy duty twist tie, putting them off to his side, amused at how many lights one person could have.</p>
<p>“Why do you have special outdoor lights? You live in an apartment with no balcony.” He looked amazed yet so confused at the things Amy felt the need to keep around, such as a heavy duty flashlight in her purse.</p>
<p>“Just in case.” She shrugged, her back turned to Jake and her eyes not moving from the fireplace that had her full undivided attention. That was until she knew that her boyfriend that said he didn’t care for the holidays was suddenly excited about something &amp; she needed to see the smile he had on his face.</p>
<p>“Oooo! Look at these, can we use these instead?”</p>
<p>Turning around, she saw him holding up the fairy lights she had once used when she was new to the city and had 4 roommates, leaving her with only half a room and minimal money to decorate her space for Christmas. She had almost forgotten she had those lights, momentarily wondering if Jake was right about how much decor she kept around. Jake asked her if she was considering it and she shook her head, not thinking about it too much.</p>
<p>“They won’t work with the ornaments I’ve picked out.” She turned her back to him, missing how he had reached into the pocket of his hoodie, taking out something and moving it to his leather jacket that was thrown onto her couch. He looked back at the fairy lights, knowing he had recently seen pictures of those lights on the internet, and thinking about how they would around the room. But Amy had a vision, and he was there to help her put it together in front of them.</p>
<p>“Awww, they’re pretty.” He sighed and moved the lights to the side, discovering the golden globe lights he had been looking for, and in his excitement, pulled out the bundle of her preferred lights and stood up way too quick to realize what was going on.</p>
<p>With his feet caught in the entangled mess of the lights he had pulled out, he felt himself losing his balance and failing to keep himself standing up, tripping over his own feet. Luckily for him, he had fallen backwards and ended up landing on her couch, softening his landing although from his experience of falling through ceilings and off ladders, falling was never any fun for anyone. He tried to stand up slowly, but failed and slumped onto the couch, to wanting to force the entangled wires off his feet, worried he might break them. Instead he sat there quietly for a moment, not singing along to Taylor for once as he contemplated the risk of asking Amy to help which meant she would see the mess he had made versus trying to free himself from the wires. It was obvious and he sighed before he cleared his throat.</p>
<p>“Amy, I need help.” His voice came out much softer and meeker than he himself had expected, a child like innocence coming through as he helpless called out to her. She turned back and almost dropped the snow globe she had in hand, her eyes wide as she looked at the state of her living room. It had turned from a simple addition of a boxes to a jumble of all her tightly packed lights scattered around the room, and her boyfriend half laying down on her couch, caught up in the mess of it all.</p>
<p>“Oh my god Jake! How??” She didn’t know what else to ask him, still figuring out how a simple job had turned into chaos. She looked between all the lights on the floor and Jake’s face.</p>
<p>“I don’t know!” He pleaded to help him, and she couldn’t stop herself from taking a step back and really understanding what she was looking at.</p>
<p>There was Jake Peralta, the man she was in love with, caught up in a mess of holiday lights that he was only near because she wanted to decorate the place with him. The look on his face was a frustration so adorable that she couldn’t help but burst out laughing whole heartedly at making him whine. She continued to laugh as she walked over and figure out how to get him out of the entangled wires, the stress of finishing her decoration out of her mind.</p>
<p>It took them almost half an hour to work through the various lights that had him stuck on her couch, making jokes about she had him helplessly tied up on her couch, the one thought she was trying to take her mind off. Instead she took that energy, putting it on getting him free knowing how antsy he got when he had to sit in one place for long periods of time, and those jokes were going to turn into grumpy grumbles. Eventually figuring out a technique that would one day save their champagne SUV, she managed to get him free from the lights that he would not be going near again, or so he thought.</p>
<p>Settling for the fact that he would do exactly what he had suggested in the first place, she gave in letting him pass her the lights they ended up using, carefully telling him exactly where to find the objects she would place on the evergreen spruce while he was more than happy to see how it all started coming together. He watched as she turned a simple cloth into a delicate ribbon that covered the wires of the lights, how she placed the shiny red ornaments and golden bells into a beautiful pattern against the green of the tree with so much care, and how it seemed like the entire home was so much brighter and he knew it wasn’t just because of the lights. Taking his duty as a helpful boyfriend very seriously, he caught onto how she was choosing her decorations and was soon holding whatever she needed next before she told him, a proud smile appearing on his face after the light incident and she mirrored the same, pleasantly surprised. Seeing how much she cared about making her home look like it was out of a movie, he couldn’t stop himself from speaking out in a trance and catching her attention.</p>
<p>“So I bought something.”</p>
<p>He looked down nervously, fiddling with the last golden bell in his hands, wishing he hadn’t spoken up about the object he had hidden away in his jacket. She would think it was so silly compared to how beautifully she had put together her living room, and he should have known better than to think she would just throw ornaments all over her tree instead of beautiful and well thought out decor.</p>
<p>“I should have known you would have a color theme for the tree, so this won’t work with the decorations and-”</p>
<p>“Jake.” She stopped him knowing he would go on until she told him to speak up about what was on his mind.</p>
<p>“Right, well I still want you to have it. You don’t have to use it, just something to keep.” He pulled something out of his jacket and holding it up in front of her, she looked at him not knowing what to say.</p>
<p>He was such a sap. She wanted to say something silly and witty like that as she stared at the glass ornament with a “Jake and Amy” engraved in it followed by the year, but no words left her mouth as her eyes began to glisten. He was indulging in every holiday activity she wanted to take part in – skating with her, walking around the mall as she shopped for her presents, making gingerbread houses, and decorating a tree – but as he placed the ornament in her hand that had stopped short of touching it, scared she was going to break her new favourite ornament, she knew he must really love her.</p>
<p>“It’s beautiful Jake.” She whispered out, running her fingers over the engravement, and looking back up at him before she threw her arms around him. She could almost feel a smile radiating from him when he realized she loved the present, and he hugged onto her tighter than she held onto him. Parting back, she looked at her tree and didn’t need more than few moments to walk up and place his gift in the center of the tree, bringing all the attention to it. Looking back at him, she found him with an open arm for her. Fitting into his embrace perfectly, they looked up at the tree admiring it as he switched on the light, and then found their eyes on each other. They didn’t need to say it as they turned back to their first Christmas tree together.</p>
<p>It was perfect.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>A few years later, Amy had just gotten the last of the boxes with blue and white ornaments out of the storage closet that was significantly reduced thanks to a spring cleaning session with her husband. She walked into the living and almost dropped the box she was holding when she saw her husband struggling to free his hands from the entangled wiring the lights while their baby giggled from his high chair, munching on a cookie. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“A little help, Amy?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“How?!”</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for this chapter!</p>
<p>Hope you all enjoyed it!</p>
<p>Any kudos and comments you could leave would mean so much! :)</p>
<p>Cya tomorrow!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Ribbons and Bows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jake leaves wrapping Amy's present till the very last moment!</p><p>Set in season 4 right after "Captain Lativa"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Day 6 is all about the gift wrapping! </p><p>I feel like it would excite Amy or maybe that's me projecting, but let's see how Jake handles it lol!</p><p>Also a thank you to all of you clicking on this fic, leaving your kudos and comments, it all means a lot! :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <span class="u">Ribbons and Bows</span>
  </strong>
</p><p>After the squad decided to head home after Charles’ neighbours were getting tired of their out of sync carolling, Jake and Amy were quick to wish everyone a Merry Christmas before they found each other. As soon as he was next to her, Amy linked their arms together before they put their hands in their pockets and began to walk down the lane.</p><p>“So interesting Christmas Eve, huh? I can’t believe Scully was the only one who was being rational and made us think about Christmas spirit.”</p><p>“And I can’t believe I taught Charles the true meaning of Christmas.”</p><p>He looked so proud of himself as he grinned and she looked on confused about what had happened, the messages he had sent throughout the day consisting of confronting the Latvian mob and being traumatized by seeing Charles in his underwear. Knowing how curious she was, unaware of the chaotic day she had herself against the MTA with her messages talking about a drunk angel, he tried not to laugh unable to know where to start with the story.</p><p>“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you on the ride home.”</p><p>Amy stopped in her track and he was quick to follow her sudden movement, looking at her in concern immediately. Jake looked on as his girlfriend took in their surroundings, a serene smile appearing on her face as it had when she had sung “12 Days of Christmas” and her eyes had been locked on him the entire time. If she looked at him like that, she could have been singing anything in any tone and he would have called her an angel – his angel.</p><p>Meanwhile, Amy loved seeing how the streets were brightly lit up with different colors, contrary to normal darkness of the night and the snowfall continued to land on their hair, steady enough to make a soft crunch as they left their footprints behind them yet not enough to make them run for cover.</p><p>“Actually, why don’t we walk?” She suggested without thinking and turned to him. He looked around and then at how warm Amy’s coat would keep her for the two blocks they had to walk, his only concern that his girlfriend would be cold if the snowfall became heavier. But seeing how excited she was looking around and had placed her head on his shoulder as she waited for him to say something. Kissing the top of her head, he looked at the small cafe at the corner, needing Amy to stay warm if they were walking.</p><p>“Can we stop for peppermint mochas first?” Amy followed his eyes to the coffee shop and smiled knowing peppermint mochas were one thing he looked forward to when the holidays rolled around.</p><p>“Fine, ya basic bish.”</p><p>She leaned in, her lips meeting his jaw making him smile as bright as the lights that surrounded them. A few minutes later, with to go cups in their hands, they were sipping on their mochas and taking steps to her apartment in silence. It was one of those times where they enjoyed the benefits of her bring left-handed and him predominantly using his right – they were able to walk arm in arm while their warm drinks were held in their dominant hands.</p><p>He found himself being guided by her since he was too distracted by the woman he was in love with – never understanding how he had gotten so lucky – as the wind was softly passing by, blowing back her hair with it and making her move closer to him to keep herself warm.</p><p>He may have had a crazy day he would have been boasting about had it taken place 2 years ago, but today he would say the fifteen-minute walk he took with his girlfriend was the only thing that mattered that day. She was the only person he could enjoy silence with, not feeling a need to fill the silence with jokes, finding a peacefulness in enjoying her presence next to her. It felt like the comfort of being home; a word he had learned the true meaning of when he had agreed to move in with her and imagined sharing a life with her.</p><p>Reaching her apartment, he began brushing snow off her hair as she unlocked the door, knowing she would rush to take off her coat and clothes to take a hot shower. And he smiled at nothing in particular when she had done exactly what he imagined, and all he had to do was stand in the doorway waiting for her to hand him her coat and empty coffee cup. Moving her shoes onto the rack so it wouldn’t annoy her on Christmas morning, he hung up their coats and waited to hear the sound of the shower turning on. As soon as it did, he knocked on the door, asking her if he could come in. Both of them knew how this would end and he found himself holding back his laughter when she had given him an excited yes before trying to play it off, although he already knew they both had one thing in mind.</p><p>Opening the already unlocked door, he didn’t even try to hide his smirk unbuttoning his shirt as soon as he walked in where his very naked girlfriend had clearly been waiting for him. As the time neared midnight, they kicked off Christmas in just the right way.</p><p>~</p><p>Laying wide awake next to his girlfriend, he was assured she was sleeping before he even attempted to get out of bed. He sighed softly as he didn’t want to get out of bed, the worst part of his day no matter what and even harder to do when Amy was right next to him. All he wanted to do was nestle into her and sleep until they had to wake up to open up their present and enjoy some Christmas morning pancakes.</p><p>But he knew he had to. He had bought her a present at the beginning of the month, her gift always taking priority over everyone else’s, but there was one part of presents that kept him from calling himself the perfect boyfriend during Christmas.</p><p>He simply could not wrap a present. And to beautifully wrap her gift was his only mission that night.</p><p>She was the love of his life, and he would never be able to express just how much, but the least he wanted to do was surprise her with a nicely put together gift that would resemble the beautifully wrapped the presents she gave others, in the slightest. Imagining how excited a neat present would make her when she always looked like she had been given a large diamond upon receiving the simplest of gifts from him that he would put in beautiful bags.</p><p>Looking over at Amy’s sleeping form, he leaned in and kissed her forehead unable to stop himself before he realized she had her arms thrown over his chest. Taking a deep breath, he knew he couldn’t afford to wake her up and took his time in slowly and carefully moving her arm away from him, wishing he had done this earlier so he could lay in bed in his embrace. But as soon as he had moved her arm away from himself, she began to stir in her sleep, adjusting her arm underneath in her pillow and her brows furrowing in the slightest. He held his breath until she was comfortably laying under the covers, and quickly slipped out of bed, placing his pillow vertically against her so she could hug onto it.</p><p>Padding into the living area, he turned on the lamp by her armchair, something he could only imagine Amy doing, he pulled out the first edition Hemingway novel from behind his DVDs he had successfully kept hidden from her. Being careful with the book, after being told how delicate books were by Amy, he decided against putting a sticky note on it with a joke about the character being named Santiago and instead turned his focus on the shiny blue wrapping paper, ribbons and bows that he had stashed into his designated drawer in the limited living room storage.</p><p>Remembering how he had sat down in the exact same spot a few weeks ago, where his contribution was limited to handing her pieces of tape, scissors, and whatever color ribbon or bow she needed, he hoped he had learned all he needed. He vividly remembered her proudly telling him she was great at wrapping gifts since she never used more than three pieces of tape and he had watched exactly how she folded the paper. Now all he had to do was perfect wrap a gift for the woman who claimed to be the best gift wrapper in her family. No big deal, he thought as he slowly unrolled the snowflake printed blue paper, doing his best to not crinkle or crease it, both to keep it looking pretty and not make noise to wake up Amy.</p><p>Adjusting his glasses on his nose, he started cutting up the paper, wishing he had measured it out like Amy always did. Having memorized her process while she thought he was busy playing Angry Birds on his phone, he followed all her steps, thanking his own genius for picking out a gift that was a simple rectangular shape.</p><p>He wished she could have seen him working on the present, knowing how desperate he always was to hear that “oh mama” from her and her actions that followed suit. Her mind becoming distracted by her simply wanted to go back to bed, but he knew he was almost done. Picking up two pieces of white ribbon, he looked over at their Christmas tree knowing she would approve of his blue and white wrapped present under their blue and white decorated tree. Taking out a big white puffy bow – the only type of bow that was acceptable to him – he stuck it on top of the gift, completely aligned in the center of the wrapped book. He turned on his phone’s flashlight, making sure there wasn’t a single wrinkle, crinkle, smudge, or crease on his present. Placing the gift along with the other gift bags he had placed under the tree, he cleaned up the mess he had made on the floor, sighing in relief that his mission was complete and that too, without having woken Amy up.</p><p>Walking back into the room, he placed his glasses and phone on the nightside table, and froze in his spot when he heard her sleepy voice calling out to him, clearly knowing the cold pillow wasn’t like her comfy boyfriend.</p><p>“Hmmmph, Jaaaaake.”</p><p>“Coming babe.” He whispered, fixing his pillow and slipping back into bed, ready to doze off.</p><p>“You already did.” A drowsy smile was visible on her face although she was clearly still sleeping.</p><p>“Oh my gosh, is that what you dream about?” He continued to talk in a hushed tone wondering if he would get a get a reply and what he heard made his heart skip a beat.</p><p>“Dream ‘bout Jake.” She mumbled as she snuggled into his chest and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her.</p><p>2 years of dating her and he still felt a warm rush take over his chest whenever he realized that Amy Santiago was in love with him and sleeping in his arms. He always assumed he was destined to be alone, longing for women who could never love him, for he was incapable of being loved. But she had found something in him, that was worth her time, her trust, her energy, her friendship – she had found him worthy of her love. And he would remain thankful for that every day, doing his best to express how fortunate he felt that Amy Santiago had chosen him.</p><p>But for now, he looked down at his sleeping girlfriend and stroked the hair away from her forehead, allowing for his lips to plant a kiss, a touch that expressed his gratitude for her, whether or not she even felt it in between being awake and fast asleep.</p><p>“Such a sap.” He mumbled to himself, trying to distract himself with a joke so he could fight off the brimming of his waterline. But even he knew, all he needed and wanted was to close his eye and let that tear of joy rest as he fell asleep listening to the sounds of her soft snores, the smell of her shampoo filling up the room and touch of her arms around him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Amy sat on the couch nestling a cup of tea as she went through her checklist, making sure everyone’s gifts were bought and ready to be wrapped up so there was no last minute rush to ruin their Christmas Eve. She turned to Jake and Mac who were sitting on the floor, handing the next gift to her expert wrappers. She watched on with a smile as Jake – who was almost as good as her now – wrapping up the gift and a 3 year old Mac passed pieces of tape to his and stuck on the bows with complete concentration. Trusting her boys to make everything look pretty, her hand reached down to her growing belly where Jake and Mac had stuck on a pretty pink bow. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for this one!</p><p>I hope you all enjoyed it!</p><p>All kudos and feedback are highly appreciated! It helps as a motivation to keep writing a new chapter every day! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Snow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jake and Amy are stuck babysitting her nephews, including Mason the little jerk and shenanigans take place.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! Thank you for the kudos and comments on the last one!</p>
<p>Couldn't write about Christmas without some fun in the snow! So I hope you all enjoy this one! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amy closed her crossword when the doorbell to their apartment rang and looked over at Jake, who had changed into his pajamas. She put up a smile when she opened the door to her two nephews standing behind her oldest brother who thanked her numerous times in the next minute for saving his night out with his wife. Inviting in the brothers, she immediately heard Jake asking them to come into the kitchen and check out the snacks he had taken out for, ready to make a run to the convenience store if they wanted something else.</p>
<p>She sighed in relief, watching her husband of 7 months putting up with Mason’s annoyance and sass as he refused everything Jake offered him. Mason was a jerk, but Jake was amazing. Pulling her cardigan around herself, she took a seat on the couch, recalling how sweet he had been earlier that evening.</p>
<p>They were getting ready for their own date after having a long week when her brother had called her, begging her to watch his kids so he could take his wife out. She tried to refuse until Jake had pieced together the situation from her side of the phone conversation. He was the one who told her brother they would be happy to watch the children, not letting the man know about the plans the newlyweds had made for themselves. Amy had told him it was unnecessary knowing he was excited to go out some new restaurant he had made reservations at almost a week ago, but he insisted on being there for her family. Maybe it was due to him growing up without siblings or he really wanted to earn brownie points with his family, although her brother loved him for some reason, but he was always ready to any favours their families ever asked of him. And she had simply kissed him out of appreciation for the kindness in the man she was married to.</p>
<p>
  <em>She didn’t know she hadn’t ended the phone call until later that night, her brother had brought up being traumatized by the sounds of Jake moaning he had been confused to hear before he had immediately hung up the phone. </em>
</p>
<p>And that’s how she had ended up curled up on the couch, snuggling into her husband while The Polar Express played on their TV, instead of being dressed up and eating a meal out. She tried to live in ignorance bliss by tracing circles over Jake’s tee enjoying how desperate and frustrated he looked knowing there was nothing he could do about her actions, pretending her nephews hadn’t been spilling popcorn all over the carpet.</p>
<p>Feeling Jake’s hand running through her hair absent mindedly as he rested his cheek on the top of her head, she stopped her hand over the soft thumps of his heartbeat. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that they were stuck babysitting, they would never be able to be this close in a restaurant, they didn’t need to be dressed in anything more than comfy pajamas and after the kids left, the night would still end the same way it would have had they gone out.</p>
<p>A proud smirk appeared on her face as she realized she could enjoy her husband’s frustrations more at home than over dinner. Normally all she had to do was playing a little footsie under the dinner table and he would have a hard time focussing on his nachos, but now that they were in the comfort of their home, she knew of a multitude of harmless ways to tease him. Making sure the kids were way too busy in the movie and seated up close to the TV to hear or see them, Amy pulled the blanket that covered their legs further up. Sliding her hand down his frame, she stopped at the band of his pajamas, a simple innocent looking action that was enough for her to hear the hitching of his breath and feel Jake freeze up. Immediately alerted, his head shot up and she had to bit down her lip to stop herself from grinning. The soft stroking of her hair stopped and turned into a fisting of the shoulder of her sweater when he looked at her and found her raising her brows, unsure of whether it was in an act of innocence or as the initiation of a challenge he knew he would fail. His eyes widened when she casually turned towards the screen as if nothing was happening but her hand was now slowly grazing by his thigh, and he felt his mouth going dry thinking about where she was heading. However, before she could do anything, the sounds of the movie were silenced and they heard the sound of her younger nephew whining.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to watch this! It’s boring!” Mason got up from the floor and walked up to them with his arms crossed as they quickly separated from each other.</p>
<p>“It’s a Christmas classic. How can you not enjoy it?” Jake tried to reason with him and Amy nodded agreeing.</p>
<p>“Of course you would know classic. You’re boring too!” Amy watched Mason rolling her eyes at Jake who looked like someone had told him his Die Hard DVDs had been lost, the horror on his face visible when he turned to her.</p>
<p>“Wha…what?! I’m boring?” She shook her head, letting her husband process the fact he was getting worked up by a 6 year old’s opinion while she turned to the boy they were babysitting.</p>
<p>“Mason, don’t talk to Jake like that or turn off the TV when everyone’s watching. If you don’t like the movie, you politely ask to watch something else.” She tried to explain to the stubborn child, hoping he would give in and sit down to watch another movie.</p>
<p>“Sorry…” Matthew apologized looking towards his aunt and uncle as he sat down next to his younger brother, who was sitting on the couch, looking extremely upset.</p>
<p>“You don’t have to apologize. We’ll just watch something else and problem solved.”</p>
<p>Jake smiled at the older quieter child who had always been much politer than his younger brother. As they waited to hear what Mason wanted, Jake found himself reaching over past Amy’s back and ruffling Matthew’s hair sneaking him a chocolate bear from his stash of candy that was on the table before them. The shy child smiled, not feeling his usual nervousness around a new family member like Jake, who had a finger on his lips asking Matthew to not tell his wife anything. Amy looked on quietly, pretending she didn’t see the interaction but all she could think about was how amazing he was with kids.</p>
<p>
  <em>It was only one of the many times her mind thought of Jake with his own child. Their child.</em>
</p>
<p>“I want to go outside.” Mason stood up once again and Jake &amp; Amy found themselves looking outside their window where the snowfall had stopped and the dark sky looked clear.</p>
<p>Sighing as they were both people who liked to stay home once they were in their homes, wanting to stay in the comfort of cuddles and blanket, and not step out of their warm heated home that had a fireplace. But knowing that they were going to be hearing a lot of sass and whining from Mason if they chose not to, Jake reluctantly got off the couch and looked at the two boys.</p>
<p>“Fine, let’s go outside. Jackets and boots on.” Jake gestured to the coat rack, which had the boys rushing to doorway, while he turned to his wife.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry Amy, you stay inside. I’ll take them out.” She shook her head and got up behind him. Picking up his leather jacket, she handed it to him before grabbing her own coat.</p>
<p>“I’ll be fine. While I’ve never been in a snowball fight, I know if I leave you with these two, everyone is going to come back with snow all over themselves.” She giggled, planting a kiss on his cheek as she handed him a pair of gloves.</p>
<p>Slipping on her own blue gloves and toque, she found herself almost running to catch up to her nephews and her suddenly excited husband as they rushed onto the snow covered park, a five minute walk they completed in less than two minutes. She slowed her steps when she saw Jake grabbing Mason’s shoulders when the child almost slipped in the slushy street and keeping his arms around her nephews that were laughing at one of his jokes. She let a fog of her breath leave her when she realized her heart was right; he would be great with kids and she knew she could have stayed home, but she wouldn’t ever miss watching him like this.</p>
<p>A few minutes later, she sat on a cold park bench, her butt strangely still warm as always and watched her husband with a serene smile on her face. The three of them had agreed to build the biggest snowman in the park very quickly and were well on their way of rolling a giant ball of snow to start the snowman. Her heart felt a warmth, like she had when he had been saying his vows to her, when she looked at Mason struggling to push the ball of snow and Jake moving it forward for the child when he turned his face away. She wished she could see a toddler like looked like her husband in the place of her nephew who was bragging about how strong he was and Jake silently looked on impressed, instead of taking the chance to prove him. And she couldn’t stop herself from walking up to the trio when the three of them started working on the head of the snowman, Jake making the kids laugh with his jokes &amp; puns, and eventually the trio arguing about a name of their snowman – all of Jake’s suggestions based on Die Hard.</p>
<p>
  <em>A similar conversation would become an everyday conversation at their home less than two years later when they were trying to pick out names for their baby. </em>
</p>
<p>However as soon as the snowman was complete with Amy sticking on a carrot she had stuffed into her pocket on her way out of the house and the trio giving into her choice of name (<em>which Jake brought up when suggesting he be the one to pick their child’s name</em>), Mason seemed to once again whine when he realized they had to go home. He tried to protest by refusing to move despite Jake and Matthew repeatedly asking him and Amy giving him a motherly glare, one that would be proven effective on her own child. But eventually he decided the best way to stay in the park was to bunch some snow in his hand, creating a tiny snowball that would hit his older brother in a few moments. For the first time, Jake and Amy saw Matthew rolling his eyes before he also began to grab a bunch of snow, not before Jake was hit in the face with a snowball.</p>
<p>And thus began the inevitable snow ball fight.</p>
<p>She stepped back, not wanting to get involved in the childish game, opting to watch how the chaos started by Mason aiming for Matthew had turned into a bunch of laughter coming from the three of them. She watched Jake letting himself get hit, passing snowballs to the older brother and only aiming half his snowballs as well as she knew he could. However, as soon as she watched him getting teamed up against by her nephews, Amy didn’t hesitate to run through the snow to her husband’s side, catching the snowball he tossed her. As soon as she did, she watched Jake get hit in the face against and turned towards Mason, hitting him back even while he was running away as fast as he could. Watching him stand shell shocked when he was hit with the snowball, Amy couldn’t hold back her laughter and heard Jake’s as he finished wiping snow off his face. It only took a few more minutes to exhaust the children and themselves, the four of them with hands on their knees trying to catch their breath.</p>
<p>As they all silently knew it was time to head home, Jake and Amy let the children walk ahead of them, taking the chance to enjoy 5 minutes alone before they would be making hot chocolate for everyone. Joining their gloved hands, Jake chuckled thinking about competitive the snowball fight had become after Amy joined, but one particular moment had caught his attention amidst the chaos.</p>
<p>“Your aim is way too good for that hit to Mason’s face to be an accident.” He turned to her, remember how Amy fisted some snow in her hands, clearing thinking about how many times Mason enjoyed hitting Jake’s face, leaving him calling for a timeout thinking his nose would start bleeding.</p>
<p>“Well he’s a little jerk.”</p>
<p>She simply shrugged before kissing his lips for warmth, the freezing snow that had been thrown at her leaving her colder than ever before. As she moved back, looking extremely proud of her performance in the “fight”, he was suddenly hit with an epiphany and stopped in his tracks. Holding her shoulders with a serious look in his face, she looked on worried about what happened to him.</p>
<p>“Wait Ames, you got into your first snowball for me?” He was almost smiling, his head slightly tilting in amusement as he waited for her answer.</p>
<p>“I sure did.” She beamed at him as he faked tears. He kissed her forehead as he put his arm around her shoulder, continuing to walk down the snowy street, a light snowfall beginning as they headed home.</p>
<p>“I’ve never been more in love.” Jake whispered into her ear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>A phrase he would repeat in the makeshift birthing suite of the precinct when he watched his son being placed on his exhausted wife’s chest, the contact softening the cries of their baby that recognized his mother.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for this chapter!</p>
<p>It would mean so much if you could leave any kudos or comments! :)</p>
<p>Once again, hope you all enjoyed the chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Sweaters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jake buys Amy a sweater.</p><p>Amy buys Jake a sweater.</p><p>There's a lot of Christmas sweaters involved!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! Thank you for all your kudos and comments since yesterday! :)</p><p>Day 8 - let's see what type of sweaters Jake and Amy like during the holidays!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <span class="u">Sweaters</span>
  </strong>
</p><p>Their sweater tradition started the year they got engaged as a complete accident.</p><p>Jake had taken a trip to the mall to pick up a last-minute secret Santa give after he had begged to have his name put back in the draw after spoiling it the first time around. Of course, he had gotten Scully once again and since Wing Sluts didn’t offer gift cards, he was wondering around the mall trying to find some of those candles the older man used and that would do the whole precinct a favour.</p><p>As he was browsing around the mall, distracted by all the displays in the windows (<em>imagining Amy in every beautiful outfit he walked by</em>), he absentmindedly walked into a clothing store, wondering if he should buy just one more gift for his fiancée. He knew she would make a concerned face similar to the one she had made two days ago when he placed a third gift box with her name under their tree and would mention they had a wedding to plan, but he couldn’t stop himself. Touching a blue dress, he imagined sitting across from her in that very dress at her favourite restaurant and the unholiness that would take place after that dress was thrown onto their bedroom floor.</p><p>Snapping out his thoughts, his eye was caught by the sweater section of the store. Remembering how Boyle had convinced everyone to exchange Secret Santa gifts in ugly Christmas sweaters, his mind wondered to their shared closet, realizing there was no way Amy had an ugly Christmas sweater. His fiancée loved the holidays, she had dresses to wear for holiday parties and they had their winter themed pajamas, but he had never seen any holiday sweaters in their wardrobe, with the except of that green sweater she had worn to the carolling competition.</p><p>Browsing through the racks, he had stopped at a red sweater, a reminiscent smile making its way across his face thinking about how the festive color complimented Amy, not that he would ever find a color didn’t work for her. Picking up the silly sweater that had an upside-down snowman on it, he held it front of him, not sure if he was more excited to buy the sweater for her priceless reaction or to see if she would actually put on the sweater he had just put down by the register.</p><p>What he didn’t know was the identical sweater had been sitting in a gift bag with his name on the tag. Amy had been spending her day off helping Kylie with her Christmas shopping, and her best friend had been spending a bit too much time taking pictures in the fitting room. That’s why Amy had walked into the men’s section of the store thinking of buying Jake a bright cartoony tie, which would make for a very interesting interaction at work. As she picked out a reindeer themed tie, proud of how he husband would pull it off, she had seen the flashy sweaters that were prominently displayed in the center of the section.</p><p>Casually looking through the display, thinking of Jake sporting the sweaters with his goofy grin, and wondered if she should buy one for him. She had been wearing most of his sweaters and sharing his clothes had left him fewer options for himself. And then there was the secret Santa where they had to sweater Christmas sweaters anyways. Picking up a red sweater, she thought back to how good he looked in the festive combo of red and white when had put on a Santa costume a few years ago. Looking at the silly upside-down snowman printed on the sweater, she tossed it over her arm knowing he would appreciate the goofy sweater and she couldn’t wait to see him opening up his new gift.</p><p>And the night before the Secret Santa, they had just finished watching a rerun of property brothers and were busying cleaning up after their takeout dinner, a serious conversation about crown moulding underway when Jake remembered the purchase he had made a few days ago. Walking into their bedroom, he brought back the gift, always becoming nervous whenever he was about to give her any gift – knowing none of them were ever enough for her – and found himself rambling when forwarding the bag.</p><p>“So the secret Santa exchange is tomorrow and I kind of bought you a little something, you know, since you don’t have any Christmassy sweaters.” Seeing the shiny package in his hand, Amy remembered her own gift and her eyes widened in excitement realizing he had bought her a similar present and rushed to the room without taking his gift.</p><p>“Wait here! I got you something for tomorrow too!” His look of confusion turned into a smile that had his cheeks turned crimson and he was rubbing the back of his neck, the way he got whenever he realized she thought of him when he wasn’t around, that he was on her mind when she went shopping and he wasn’t the only one imagining the outfits put on mannequins being on a significant other.</p><p>Running back with the exact same bag that he held in his hand, they both tilted their head, hesitating to exchange the gifts as they nervously smiled wondering what the other had purchased from the exact same store. Opening up the bag, their eyes widened comically as they touched the fabric they knew they had bought for the other. Quick to check the tag and finding the bags were addressed to them and not the other, they pulled out the identical sweater and stared at each other in disbelief. Holding up their sweaters in front of themselves, it was Amy who let out a giggle that always kickstarted Jake’s laugh, and soon they were both holding their stomach laughing at the piece of clothing that both held in their hands. The laughter continued until Jake slowed down to catch his breath and put his arms around her, a soft touch of his lips met the side of forehead, calming her laughter before he looked down at their matching sweaters.</p><p>“We are not wearing matching sweaters…” He sighed, his face turning serious as he stared off past her, clearly thinking hard about something making her brows furrow as to why he wouldn’t want to wear the matching sweaters when he was the one who suggested they buy the same sneakers.</p><p>Normal she was the one who would be making the suggestion. They hardly wore clothes that matched ever since she had heard the captain making a comment about the same and they had settled color coordination, which was deemed appropriate whenever they attended any formal events.</p><p>“…around Charles. He would never get over it.” Jake finished his thought knowing his best friend would spend the entire evening talking about their matching clothes and the conversation would definitely end with something about shampooing each other’s hair. Amy chuckled, thinking about the exact same thing that was on his mind and when she saw how excited he was with the matching clothes.</p><p>Without bothering to take off the tag, knowing how much he would love to sit in the same sweaters at home, she slipped on the sweater making him look at her life she had just told him they could have a Die Hard themed wedding. With his eyes wide, mouth open in enthusiasm and arms opened in shock that she was going along with and wasn’t going to return one of the sweaters, she could have sworn it felt like she had just given him the best present ever. Grabbing his sweater from his hands, she didn’t let him put up his offended face as she put the sweater over his head, and he stretched out his arm like a little toddler. She didn’t roll her eyes surprising herself, instead adoring how he had closed his eyes and had a thin smile on his face, as she put his arms through those of the sweaters.</p><p>
  <em>She didn’t know she just had a sneak peek dressing their son who would close his eyes and smile in the same way whenever she would dress him.</em>
</p><p>Taking a step back as she looked at him in the bright red and white sweater, feigning a dramatic expression of surprise as he put his hands on his hips letting her enjoy the sight, giving a twirl as she held her hands to his chest keeping up with his dramatics. She leaned in to kiss him when he stopped his little show with one hand on his hip and one behind his ear.</p><p>“Oh my gosh, what impeccable taste in fashion.” She exclaimed with a sigh earning a chuckle out of him.</p><p>“I know right! Should we do this all the time?” He threw out the vague suggestion as she laughed, before they moved to the living room, ready to watch more HGTV, dressed in identical sweaters that were perfect for cuddling.</p><p>They would wear those matching red sweaters in the comfort of their home all the way until they were halfway through January and the pizza delivery guy had given Jake’s new favourite sweater a strange look.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The following year, they had been shopping at the mall together when they found their next set of matching sweaters. He had agreed to go with Amy’s choice of matching blue reindeer sweaters, purchasing them alongside a blue onesie with a reindeer on it. Beaming at the congratulations they received from the cashier, Amy tried to hide her blush when paying upon feeling Jake’s hand slip under her blouse – resting on her stomach.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The year after, one year old Mac got to choose the green sweaters with Santa the family of three would spend the winter months in. Needless to say, Mac spent his first Christmas, excited and amused by how he looked like his mom and dad as they walked through the busy malls, watched Christmas movies, and opened presents on Christmas morning. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for today!</p><p>I hope you all enjoyed it!</p><p>Any kudos and/or feedback are really appreciative and help motivate me to write a chapter a day! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Hot Chocolate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"You're gonna go to the Polish place and get perogies and potato pancakes and a cup of hot chocolate."</p>
<p>Jake always knew of Amy's love for hot chocolate &amp; he decides to show his own love through the sweet drink.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! </p>
<p>Almost didn't think I would be posting today, despite hot chocolate being one of my favourite things in the world lol. </p>
<p>But it's here and I hope you all enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jake set down the bag of ingredients to make Amy the perfect cup of hot chocolate.</p>
<p>In the last five years, if there was one thing he had perfected in the kitchen, it was the hot chocolate she was in love with. The warm beverage had started of as a treat he would pick up when he was running late to meet her, when they were working late, or whenever he knew she was annoyed with something. Every time she saw him with a to go cup with the logo of her favourite café, her annoyance over whatever was bothering her was reduced enough to make her smile and give him a kiss, all the while sneaking the cup out of his hands.</p>
<p>Noticing how the decadent chocolatey drink even had the power to bring her down a scale on the Santiago panic scale, Jake knew he had to learn to make the one drink she could drink every day, especially when the holidays rolled around. Little did he know, he would soon master the art of making a hot chocolate perfect for Amy Santiago.</p>
<p>The first time he attempted it, he had searched the internet and not chosen the quickest recipe to make contrary to his usual cooking methods. Instead, he had jotted down everything he needed to make the hot chocolate, later beaming as he showed Amy his first every grocery list, and taken his time to choose the best ingredients for his girlfriend, including a ready to mix and serve packet of hot chocolate just in case his attempt would end horribly.</p>
<p>Jake had walked home to find his girlfriend on the couch, her favourite blanket over her legs and Harry Potter playing on the TV. Noticing the particular pair of sweatpants she was wearing, he knew she had just started her period and his boyfriend instincts kicked in immediately.</p>
<p>Resting her head on the armrest of the couch, suppressing a groan as she heard Jake walking around the apartment, she closed her eyes wishing she could peacefully sleep away the agony she was feeling. But suddenly, for a few moments, she would forget about the pain when she felt her cold feet being covered with the warm fleece of her socks being put on her feet. Opening her eyes, she found Jake smiling up at her from the floor he was on one knee for her, her foot placed on his other knees as he slipped on the socks. She closed her eyes after mouthing a thank you to him, receiving a kiss on her forehead before he walked away. She had been sitting in the cold, not wanting to even shift her position as if it would hold back her cramps and wishing she had her feet covered. How did he know what she needed before she even spoke out her request?</p>
<p>Peeking her eyelids open to see Jake busying in the kitchen, and the distinct shaking of a bottle of aspirin, she turned her attention back to the movie that had become background noise in his presence. She would need to ask him for the medicine, and smile as she focussed on the TV screen, her boyfriend was here to take care of her without her needing to move an inch. And this was the one time she wanted to be taken care of instead of wanting to prove how strong she was.</p>
<p>
  <em>A few years later, another time she wanted to be taken care of by Jake would appear alongside the two lines of the pregnancy test. </em>
</p>
<p>What Amy didn’t know was her boyfriend was diligently putting together all the items she needed to get through the evening. Including a cup of hot chocolate. Handling the cocoa, milk, and sugar like it was solving an intricate puzzle at home, he spent 15 minutes on something that should have taken less than ten minutes. Picking out her favourite mug of their cupboard full of individual unmatching mugs (her shame cupboard), he tried not to spill any on the counter. Nodding his head at his own creation like he was the first person to make a hot chocolate, he looked back at her, now halfway laying on the couch with her face clearly attempting to hide her pain as she pressed her lips into a thin line. If he had learned anything about how bad her cramps got, he knew this one cup of sweet chocolate would be the one thing that would bring a smile on her face (<em>unaware of how Amy had been smiling at his back watching him work on his secret mission in the kitchen</em>) and took a sip of the beverage he had prepared.</p>
<p>It wasn’t sweet enough for him, which always meant it would be perfect for her. He licked the froth off his lips, knowing if he was right about his girlfriend, she was bound to love his homemade drink.</p>
<p>Timidly, Jake would bring over the hot chocolate on a tray alongside a heating pad, aspirin, and other chocolates she enjoyed to the couch where she was riddled with cramps and laying down in his hoodie. Placing the tray on their coffee table, he ran a hand over her head as if she was a delicate porcelain doll, understanding how she often wanted to be left alone. When she smiled at him, eyeing the aspirin, he was immediately by her side with the pill and a glass of water. Plugging in her heating pad as she sat up, her eyes lighting up as she saw the mug placed on the tray, he placed the reliving object on her abdomen before he handed her the hot chocolate.</p>
<p>Watching her take that first sip, always savouring it for just a moment more than the other, he sat down on the couch moving her feet onto his legs. The relaxed smile he would always recognize as the pleasantry of a hot beverage warming her body, made an appearance on her face and he relaxed back.</p>
<p>“Jake, this doesn’t taste the same.” He sat up straight immediately before he even had the chance to look at the movie. He looked over to see her looking at the mug in her hands like it was a part of her crossword where her initial answer didn’t work.</p>
<p>“Oh, I can grab you another one.” He quickly tried to reach forward, wanting to put the whole thing down the drain, but making her move it back.</p>
<p>“No, I was going to ask where you got it from, it’s amazing.”</p>
<p>She took another sip, her expression unchanged from her first sip that was a first from her. His prideful smile returned as he raised his hand and wiggle his fingers before her, a tingle running in her body as she looked at him.</p>
<p>“Well these hands work wonders in the kitchen too, if you know what I mean?” Jake smirked at her with wiggling brows now.</p>
<p>And she knew he wasn’t just talking about the way his hands were giving relief to her aching legs as he pressed them in just the right spots. A giggle escaped her and his proud smile diminished the slightest, a more sombre delight in his heart that she had been distracted from her pain for just a small amount of time.</p>
<p>“Have I won best boyfriend yet?” He asked with his goofy grin and Amy opened her free arm for him as she drank more of her new favourite drink.</p>
<p>“Come here you goof.” He obliged immediately and was met with the sweet taste of creamy chocolate of what he just made as her lips touched his. As she sucked softly on his lips, a quiet gesture of gratitude of how much he was spoiling her, she pulled him closer to her. Before he knew it, he was laying next to her trying to catch to get air back into himself as she continued to causally sip on the mug he gave her.</p>
<p>“Wow that was amazing, and I am talking about how that hot chocolate taste.” He managed to say as she finished up the drink, and turned to him. Laughing at his attempt to be witty, she placed her head onto his chest, finding comfort on the small uncomfortable couch they both lay on. She closed her eyes as the lingering sweetness stayed on her tongue and the warmth that ran through her from both the hot chocolate &amp; his arms around her lulling her to sleep.</p>
<p>And now 5 years later, Amy watched as Jake stood in their kitchen, a focus visible on his face. She was having a rough day with the morning sickness kicking in and the waves of hormones that started affecting her work today, but he had unlocked a secret to making her happy.</p>
<p>It was simple mixture of cocoa, milk, sugar, and a few chocolate chips, but he treated it as if it was the important thing in the world when was preparing it, treating hot chocolate like a meticulous science. A science he would learn for her. She watched as the kitchen filled with the fragrance of a mouth-watering sweetness, suddenly invoking her appetite that she thought she had lost.</p>
<p>Walking up to Jake, Amy rested her head on his shoulder, watching the wispy steam raising from the pot while he glanced her way with a nudge of his cheek against the top of head. Moving back as he turned off the stove, he pulled forward the tiered tray that had his various hot chocolate toppings waiting got them. Reaching for their “Mr. &amp; Mrs.” mugs, she handed them to her husband, leaning in to watch him work (<em>just like their son would watch them in the kitchen in two short years</em>). Getting a kiss for her contribution, she bit her lip to stop herself from grabbing her mug as he gestured towards the all the different sweets she could put onto her hot chocolate – only after adding in his little secret ingredients that he never told her about. Picking up a handful of marshmallows while he made his drink sweeter than she could imagine, she shook her head as they walked into their living room. As he switched on Die Hard, claiming it was the best Christmas movie, she left him do as he wished, enjoying the perfect hot chocolate he had served up to end her day with a smile.</p>
<p>A smile that grew brighter when he placed his head on her lap – always needing to take the hot portion out of his hot chocolate – and for once, turned his back to the movie as he placed his hand on her currently unchanged stomach.</p>
<p>“Should we name the baby after John McClane?”</p>
<p>And they began one of their many discussions on what they should name their baby, deciding on Mac on another evening over hot chocolate.</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>2 years later, Mac would join his mom in watching his dad pouring hot chocolate into two large mug and one smaller one that the toddler recognized as its own. He would be snuggled between his parents on the couch as they watched Frozen; Amy resisting the urge to record a video as Jake and Mac sang alongside Elsa. The two parents would take turn making sure hot chocolate wasn’t too hot for their baby and helping him take sips of the sugary drink that had been giggling throughout the movie. And they both continued to watch to animated movie until they found themselves melting, just like the snowman, when they found Jake’s master creation had lulled their son to deep drooling sleep, his head resting against Amy’s arms and his legs resting against Jake’s.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for day 9!</p>
<p>I hope you liked it and any kudos/feedback will be highly appreciated!</p>
<p>Also thought I would drop a little hint for the last 3 days - my favourite Mac Peralta is here and not just as a blip at the end of the story! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Santa</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Mac’s first time meeting Santa truly had a special place in Amy’s heart. </p><p>Everything went wrong, until Jake saves Christmas pictures.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! Happy Christmas Eve Eve! </p><p>This one took a bit longer to write than the other ones, but I hope it was worth waiting for!</p><p>And thank you for the kudos and comments on the last one!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Mac’s first time meeting Santa had a special place in Amy’s heart if the extra pages in his first-year album were indicative of anything.</p><p>It was all planned out perfectly a while back and it was going great until the morning of. She had slept peacefully knowing Mac’s clothes were all set out, she had set a second alarm for Jake knowing he was going to snooze the first one, her phone notes had all the details of when Santa will be around for the pictures and that told her exactly when they needed to head for the store to avoid both the traffic and a large line up of other children eager to get their own pictures.</p><p>Except, Amy was reminded once again, there are some things you can’t control especially when your baby is 4 months old.</p><p>It was all great when she had woken up to hearing Mac over the baby monitor, knowing exactly how great her little boy was at following out the sleep schedule she was weaning him onto. Amy had turned over to her other side, knowing very well that Jake would be getting out of bed half asleep, cued by Mac’s cry. And sure enough, he was about to throw of his blanket when she held his hand stopping him. Recognizing her touch, he settled into bed as she told him to sleep in while she checked in on Mac, his dazed instinct being to do as she said. Taking a moment to stop and look at her sleeping husband in all his glory; messy curls on his pillow, a beard he didn’t have time to shave, and the knowledge of his shirtless figure under their blanket, she had to almost physically shake herself out of the stare and rush over to their son’s room.</p><p>She walked into the nursey and hearing the door open, Mac’s cries immediately softened into whimpers knowing he was about to be snuggled by one or both of his parents. Walking over to the crib where her smart son had was rapidly been moving his arms waiting to be picked up, Amy stopped his whimpers when she placed her hand over his head. Picking up her baby, Amy took a deep breath as the baby scent surrounded her when she placed him against her chest making his chubby cheeks, as Jake would say, smush against her the crook of her neck.</p><p>“Good morning honey…”</p><p>She whispered at the calm baby as her fingers gently ran over his plump cheeks that she would never get enough of. As Mac began to look for the neck of her shirt, Amy rubbed her hand against the back of his Christmas onesie and moved to sit down in the rock armchair getting ready to feed her hungry baby.</p><p>Nursing Mac in silence, watching her baby’s sleepy eyes become alert as they looked at her and his tiny hands that resembled the softness and chubbiness of his cheeks handing her finger. Watching as Mac’s eyes wondered around, never failing to be fascinated around his surroundings, Amy didn’t realize when she had started smiling down at her son. She momentarily wished she hadn’t stopped Jake from coming with her, knowing he would be wiggling Mac’s little toes, both of them exchanging a look knowing how perfect everything about this tiny human they created was. It would have also let her have the comfort of her husband’s arms wrapped around her keeping her warm and the contentment that engulfed her every morning in the presence of her two favourite people in the world.</p><p>For now, she would run her thumb over her baby’s hand, watching his big hazel eyes brightening when she scrunched her face at him. An almost inaudible sigh would leave her when she was able to instantly understand when her baby was full, getting up burp him; remembering exactly how excited she was this time last year. She had just returned from her first doctor’s appointment and stood in the very same room; wondering if she would be able to even carry the baby she and Jake were already excited about &amp; whether she would be able to take care of the baby that would be dependant on them. She had tears in her eyes as Jake had hugged her from behind when she worried that if it took her so long to make a baby, it may take her longer to learn how to take care of that baby.</p><p>But here she was, her son sporting a toothless smile as he gurgled in his state of milk drunk and nestled into her neck. And nothing could make it her any happier, except the presence of Jake.</p><p>“Let’s go wake up sleepy head daddy.” She mumbled against Mac’s forehead and smiled when the infant cooed as if agreeing with her.</p><p>Sitting on the edge of the bed, holding Mac with one arm as she gently shook Jake’s shoulder with the other, watching him yawn dramatically when he woke up right as she turned off the alarm set to go off in a minute. Propping himself up on one shoulder, his sleepy smile had her and Mac giggling as he flopped onto the pillow after a moment. As Mac’s eyes caught his dad’s, the infant’s arm reached out for Jake and Amy knew her son was already better at waking up her husband than she was. Proving her right when he immediately was sitting up, Jake’s arms opened for Mac and she obliged to both her boys’ wishes.</p><p>“Oh hello…wow today is really a good morning.” Jake whispered in his softest voice reserved for his baby. Kissing the top of Mac’s head before the baby was resting on his shoulder, the sleepy dad got a kiss from Amy before she left the duo to be as she went to get ready herself.</p><p>“We have to leave in an hour.” She walked out of the bathroom, ready to leave as soon as she would have Mac ready only to find Jake standing shirtless, Mac fast asleep on his against his chest and a finger on his lips.</p><p>“No Jake, he’s not supposed to be taking a nap already.” She loudly whispered knowing this was going to throw off everything she had planned for the day around Mac’s usual naptimes.</p><p>“I know, but I was just walking around and the next thing I know, he’s sleeping.” Jake whispered back meekly and it was impossible for Amy to be upset when she saw her son’s tiny fisted hand holding onto Jake’s pinky as he drooled onto his shirtless dad. It was obvious Mac needed sleep even after a full night of sleep and his needs were above everything else, including their own, so anything they had planned was clearly wasn’t as important either.</p><p>“Okay, okay. That’s fine, he’ll be well rested and awake by the time we reach the store. Just go get ready.”</p><p>Nodding, Jake moved the sleeping baby into her arms, something they had become professionals at after long nights where one of them was starting to doze off while in that rocking chair that also lulled them to sleep.</p><p>An hour later, Mac had woken up and Jake was dressed in fancy look he only threw on for visits to her family, a maroon sweater thrown on over his green plaid as his attempt to be festive and matched her top of the same color. Promising her the best scrambled eggs he could make in the time it would take her to get Mac all dressed up, Jake took on the responsibility of breakfast and packing the diaper bag, something he had done dozens of times without a second thought.</p><p>Although they were running late, everything else was back on track, Amy thought to herself as she handed Mac to Jake, their baby now clad in festive green sweater resembling an elf outfit. All she had left to do was brush her hair once again after Mac thought it was interesting enough to grab in his little hand, pulling it with all the strength a baby of 4 months had. It was supposed to take 2 minutes that Jake would need to bundle up Mac in his puffy winter jacket and a beanie. However, she forgot about the struggle Mac put up when it came to his socks and show, all his energy focused on kicking, which is how she walked back out to find her husband and son standing in the middle of a large puddle of milk and an empty bottle on the floor.</p><p>“I’m sorry, it was an accident. I didn’t tighten the top properly.” Jake looked down at the mess in guilt while Mac giggled and Amy could only rub the middle of her forehead trying not to yell out her frustrations.</p><p>“We’re already late, now you both have to get changed and a whole bottle has been wasted?!”</p><p>She threw her hands up, ready to pull her own hair like her son had earlier on, before she looked at the state of Jake, Mac, and their kitchen floor. Exhaling a deep breath and closing her eyes to hold up the tears of frustration at how everything was going wrong and it wasn’t even noon, she walked around the mess on the floor, taking Mac into her arms muttering to her husband who pulled out the paper towels.</p><p>“Forget it, I’m done with today.”</p><p>Jake’s head shot up and he opened his mouth to speak only for Amy to shake her head as she walked away.</p><p>A short while later, he stood next to her watching Mac intrigued by the mobile hanging above his head. She was smiling at Mac, but the underlying disappointment was evident to him. Placing a hand on her shoulder, as he smiled at their baby, he felt the exhaustion she was already feeling when she rested her head on his shoulder.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled.” She mumbled towards the ground as he turned to face her. Taking her hands into his, he ran his hand over her perfect manicured nails that made an appearance this time of year.</p><p>“It’s okay. I’m sorry for messing everything up. But we can always get Santa pictures next year.” He tried to be assuring knowing she wouldn’t want to take Mac to a crowded place anymore and her mood was thrown off getting in the way of figuring out any way to make their plans work. Sighing she nodded before she looked into his eyes, reflecting a concern that she was upset at him, which she couldn’t have been.</p><p>“Its just…I know you think it’s not important, and it really isn’t if you look at the bigger picture of everything. But it means something to me to have our son grow up with the fun memories of the holidays like I grew up with.”</p><p>“I know it’s important Amy, but he’s only four months old Amy. He wouldn’t even remember any of it.” Jake reached up, palming her cheek as he stepped closer to her.</p><p>“I don’t remember my first few holidays either, no one does. But I got to look back at all the photos and memories my parents had saved for me. And I want Mac to be able to look back at those too.” She looked up at him, a sad frown on her face as he nodded in understanding before she looked back at Mac.</p><p>Stepping back from her, he knew she was right. He walked out of the room, knowing the anger he had felt when he would be the kid who didn’t have pictures of his family or himself for a school project or any memories to contribute when everyone else talked about their holidays in the new year. He remembered the annoyance he had felt when Amy’s mom had shown him picture of her as a baby making him remember Charles’ comment on having to contacting the hospital for any of his baby pictures. Walking into the small den of their house, he remembered how he had promised to give his son everything he didn’t have as he began to look through the boxes of his things that never found a place in the apartment when he had moved in.</p><p>An hour later, the small study had a makeshift camera stand on one end of the room, and one of their dining chairs right across from it as he yelled out to Amy to come to the room.</p><p>“Oh sweetie, it’s okay.” He heard Amy’s voice cooing at their son who had started to become fussy and if Jake learned about his different cries, the whimpers indicated full blown crying was about to start soon. He wanted to rethink his idea, but hiding in the stuffy closet, he knew he wasn’t going to wait for Amy to leave.</p><p>“Anyone have cookies and milk?” His flair for the dramatic kicked in as he opened the stuffy closet, startling Amy for a moment as she swiftly turned around. Recognizing her husband in the old Santa costume he had from years ago, her face had lit up seeing the man she loved in a bright red costume, a fake belly, and a white beard. Walking up to Mac who was immediately interested in this strange person, his whimpers now gone as he lifted his head to look at the man who was standing in front of him.</p><p>“Ho ho ho.” Jake imitated a deep voice and tapped Mac’s nose earning a loud giggle from the infant and a laugh from his wife.</p><p>As he pointed towards the camera and chair, Amy took a look around the room before she looked at Santa. As he adjusted his glasses that worked perfectly for his Santa getup, Amy looked him with the same gratitude she had when he would drive out late to fulfill her pregnancy cravings, when he offered to watch Mac so she could go to a spa for a few hours, or when he had gotten them a week off to drive her to the Berkshires for a “babymoon”. If there was anything she could ask for, he would do anything he could to bring it before her and it didn’t matter how many time she was reminded of the fact, it would bring a tear to her eye every time. She smiled with at how he much he made their baby smile before shaking her head.</p><p>Only Jake Peralta could make her want to kiss him when he was dressed up as old man who snuck down chimneys.</p><p>And leaning in, she placed a kiss on his cheek as Mac reached for Santa, his tiny hands trying to grasp the red coat he had on. Taking their baby, Jake grinned at Amy mischievously as he leaned in to whisper into his ear.</p><p>“Hey, no frisking Santa in front of the baby or you’ll end up on the naughty list.”</p><p>“Pretty sure I’ve marked my spot there already.” She moved back laughing as Jake walked over to the chair trying to control his shocked expression, although he should have known better; his wife definitely belonged on the naughty list. Sitting down as Amy set up the camera, Jake distracted Mac with his Santa voice, the hot itchy suit being worth every smile he got from their baby and from his wife. As Mac’s soft laughs continued, Jake cradled him closer to himself, talking in his gentle dad voice again.</p><p>“You are the sweetest angel in the world, you should get everything this Christmas.” Mac looked at him awed as if he recognized he was being held by his dad as Jake went on to kiss the top of his head, tickling the baby with the fake beard.</p><p>“I love you so much.” He whispered just as Amy walked up to them and Mac cooing back at his dad. Amy watched wanting to aww at the scene before her eyes and quickly taking silent steps back, to click a picture on the camera.</p><p>Mac’s first picture with Santa was more special than any picture she could have planned for him.</p><p>And the entire photoshoot that came afterwards with the three of them was something that would have never crossed her mind. Sure, half the pictures were blurry because Jake would make a joke and they would end up moving or they would get distracted by the wonder that was Mac after they had put a baby Santa hat on him, but she wouldn’t have traded it for anything else. They could have spent their entire day off looking taking picture of their baby, but Jake was more than ready to get out of the sweaty suit as soon as Mac started yawning and getting fussy, needing his next nap after a tough hour of being the cutest baby model Jake &amp; Amy had ever seen.</p><p>And at the end of the day, when she sat down on their bed after putting Mac down, she didn’t know how she would only choose a handful of pictures to mark the day in the album being made for the baby. Setting aside the camera, knowing the Santa pictures would take up more than one page in her project, she looked at the man she had to thank for it as he walked into their room.</p><p>“So Mrs. Claus, what does Santa get for saving Christmas?” He joked as he took off his shirt to get into bed, and she looked onto never understanding how he wasn’t cold but not minding it one bit.</p><p>“Drop it.” Jake immediately closed his mouth and looked her way while she gestured to his flannel pajamas.</p><p>“I mean it, drop it.” She smirked at him and he grinned, knowing she was about to prove while she belonged on the naughty list.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The following year, they stood in line waiting to meet Santa while Jake, being ever so impatient, kept muttering about how he made a better Santa any day. It would have been nothing more than an annoying remark that made Amy roll her eyes if Mac hadn’t joined in, asking for “Dada Santa” as he fussed in the mall Santa’s arm. Bribing Mac with a candy cane, she had calmed him down long enough to get a picture taken. With a beautiful picture and a sugar high toddler, Amy decided from then on Jake would put on a Santa hat and pose for a picture before they called it a day.</em>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for this one!</p><p>I've never written baby Mac, so I hope you all enjoyed my first attempt at it!</p><p>Any kudos or feedback you could leave would mean a lot! :)</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Holiday Cards (Christmas Eve)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Amy looks over the family holiday card on Christmas Eve!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Merry Christmas Eve everyone!</p><p>We all saw Amy making a Christmas card in season 1 and I'm sure she and Jake would send out adorable holiday cards with Mac, hence this chapter lol!</p><p>Hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The smell of cookies wafted through the apartment that was brightly lit up by the decorations. Jake and Mac were busy singing “Jingle Bells” extremely off key and taking over the actual music that was playing in the kitchen. Wearing the blue snowflake pajamas that matched theirs, Amy adjusted the stockings that hung by the fireplace while glancing over at the father and son. They had strangely offered to clean up the kitchen after yet another attempt to bake cookies for Santa and she knew from the giggles from the open area, the two were up to another one of their mischievous antics. Smiling as she remembered last year when her toddler was covered in powdered sugar and she was presented a plate covered in more icing &amp; sprinkles than the cookies on them. After cleaning Mac, she had spent last Christmas Eve shaking the sprinkles out of Jake’s curls and tonight, she made sure anything resembling sprinkles was hidden in her pantry.</p><p>Walking by their Christmas tree, her lips curved upwards in tranquility, as she ran her hand over the colorful ornaments. As the years had gone by, she had let go of having their Christmas tree be covered in one colored ornament, enjoying how the three of them would put together a tree full of different colours. She couldn’t decide whether she enjoyed putting up a crossword ornament with their names on the tree or watching Jake and Mac carefully deciding where their favourite 4 turtles should be placed. She sat down on their couch, realizing watching Mac sitting on Jake’s shoulders as he tried to put up the star on the top of the tree was the best part of decorating their place.</p><p>However, her smile slowly washed away as she sighed picking up the empty frame and their holiday card that had reached their all family and friends earlier in the day. This year they had chosen to take a picture for the card outside in the snow instead of another picture of them at home in their pajamas like they had been sending out for the last two years. She had sent a generous gift to her photographer friend who had managed to capture the three of them laughing as Jake and Amy had each taken one of Mac’s mitten clad hands, and lifted him into a swing off the ground. However, the more she looked at the photo, the more she kept noticing her own appearance in it. While loving how adorable her baby looked in his puffy winter jacket that seemed bigger than he was and a beanie that made his chubby face cuter than normal with Jake who smile stole the picture, she found herself worried about the whether she had made the right choice to wear that winter coat and whether she shouldn’t have worn a turtleneck under that coat. The clothes reflecting how her appearance was slowly changing had her worried it would let their little secret.  </p><p>“Amy, you gotta try these! They’re amazing!”</p><p>She looked up from the card and frame to find Jake and Mac bringing a plate full of cookies to her. Setting down his smaller plate by the tree, Mac rushed over to Jake ready for more sugar. Refusing the cookie Jake offered her (before he shrugged and ate it himself), she had a harder time saying no to Mac as he kept holding up the cookie ha decorated just for his mom.</p><p>“Chwistmas cookie!” He pouted to her, his big puppy eyes resembling Jake when Mac had said he wanted to watch Elf instead of Die Hard last night. Looking over at Jake for help, she was met with the same look on his face and she had no choice but to open up her palm for his cookie. Planting a kiss on Mac’s cheek, she felt his tiny sticky hands grabbing her face and leaving icing on her cheek as he reciprocated her gesture before running off to his toys powered by the sugar rush.</p><p>“I saw the cookie package in the garbage, these are store bought.” Amy pointed out as she took a bite off the top of the tree shaped cookie before handing the rest to Jake, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. He thought he had been sneaky enough last year and today to replace their homemade cookies with the store bought ones, but he should have known better than to get anything past his wife.</p><p>“I never said fresh, I said they’re amazing. And we decorated them.” He quickly and nervously mumbled while shifting on the couch, worried about hurting her feelings while she laughed, having accepted the Peralta-Santiagos should probably never open up a bakery.</p><p>“It’s fine, I only like the idea of baking you with two, not eating those cookies. I had a package in the cupboard as well. You just beat me to it.”</p><p>Watching him breathe a sigh of relief, she thought she had lost his attention when he picked up the TV remote and looked back down at the holiday card. Amy should have known she would never lose his attention since he had put down his plate of cookies seeing her expression change when she had looked down and inched closer to her to wrap an arm around her. She lifted up the card in front of him and pointed towards herself in it.</p><p>“Look at this.” She frowned at him, and he wanted to the lower lip she stuck out in a way he would always find cute. But curious to know what she saw in their family picture, he took it with his free hand and held it up higher and only saw the way Amy looked at Mac making him almost wish he could frame those two in their own photo.</p><p>“It’s a masterpiece.” He shrugged and handed it back to her only for point at herself again and he knew she was overthinking how her choice of clothes again.</p><p>“But-”</p><p>“It’s you, me, and Mac. It’s perfect.” She closed her mouth, letting his sentence dangle as she took another look at their photo.</p><p>It was beautiful; a reflection of the perfect day they had. The snow was falling lightly that day. The corner of the park was empty around them. They had been laughing all day in the snow, building snowmen, sipping hot chocolate on their way home, and cuddling under one blanket by the fireplace as they watched a movie. It was perfect day and their photo was a reflection of that. She looked back at Jake and saw him looking at the card, the love he had for her and their son was so evident in that picture &amp; in the way he looked at that picture. Placing her head on his shoulder, she closed her eyes holding back her emotions that were going to come down as tears if she didn’t. She had been worried about various people’s thoughts on their card, but as she sat next to Jake who had his hand gently grazing over her stomach and listening to the sounds of their son playing, it didn’t matter.</p><p>“You’re such a sap.” She mumbled against his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head with a chuckle, knowing she wasn’t wrong. He was especially sappier around the holidays, contrary to the Jake she knew years ago, and it wasn’t going to ever change.</p><p>“I was just worried, I just know my mom is going to call and make some comment on how different I look...”</p><p>She started talking and pointed to her face and stomach while he sat up on the couch realizing she wasn’t worried about not hiding her changing body, but rather what her mother would think of her. Jake clenched his jaw for a moment, trying not get upset at how Camilla managed to affect Amy after all these years and why his mother-in-law felt the need to still make scrutinizing remarks about her brilliant, beautiful, badass daughter.</p><p>“Okay, first off it would ridiculous for her to do that. Second, if she does say anything, you hand me the phone immediately. Third…Mac will make my third point.”</p><p>Amy opened her mouth to stop him, wanting to tell him that it didn’t matter to her but stopped when he called over to their child, letting him go on and wanting to see what he was about to do. Mac immediately left his toys, running into Jake’s arms and quickly finding his spot on his dad’s lap.</p><p>“Mac-a-roni, who is the prettiest person in the whole wide world?” Jake asked tickling the toddler and Mac leapt onto Amy’s lap who put aside the items on her lap, quickly made space for him.</p><p>“Momma!” Mac wrapped his arms around Amy’s neck and she hugged him back, so glad she had let Jake talk. Inhaling the smell of cookies and candy canes that came from her son, she closed her eyes when she felt Jake’s hand on her. Her crazy boys thought she was everything, and it meant she needed nothing from anyone else. Parting back from their hug, letting Mac snuggle into her, she ran her hands through his curly hair while looking up in an attempt to stop her tears.</p><p>“Come on, Mac wouldn’t lie.” Jake, thinking she was rolling her eyes, nudged her soft before pulling Mac’s chubby cheeks that he never got enough of.</p><p>Now Amy genuinely rolled her eyes as she uses the back of her finger to wipe off chocolate from the corner of Mac’s mouth.</p><p>“He just lied about eating the chocolate chips.” She pointed out to Jake who looked offended but not as much as their son who got off her lap and stood up on the sofa. Taking her face into his tiny palms, Mac looked dead serious as he tried to defend himself, making it hard for Jake not to laugh watching how precious their baby was.</p><p>“No not lie Momma.” With widened eyes, Mac looked on eagerly waiting for Amy to say something only her for to scrunch her nose as she continued to wipe more chocolate off his face.</p><p>“Who ate the chocolate chips then?”</p><p>“Dadda!” Mac’s finger pointed at Jake whose soft laughter had turned into shock as he realized how mischievous Mac was becoming and put his hands up.</p><p>“Woah woah woah, I did no such thing.” Jake stood up, lifting Mac off the couch as they ran off to kitchen to get rid of any evidence of chocolate chip theft from either of them, although she knew they were both guilty of emptying half a package of the tiny, sweet nibs.</p><p>As they were getting cleaned up, Amy picked up their holiday card and finally put it into the frame. Knowing exactly where it belonged, she placed it on the shelf by their TV, right next to the last two holiday cards they had sent out. She realized how quickly their son was growing up every time she looked at progression of their holiday pictures, wishing she could slow the time and be with him more, as if she would ever come to a point of having enough time with Jake and Mac. She made sure each frame was perfectly aligned, taking a moment to look at them and remembering the days behind the photos.</p><p>The first year they sent out a holiday card was an impromptu decision when they had received the Jeffords’ card. Starting their own card, she remembered how they had spent hours dressed Mac, a few months old back then, in a Santa hat, moving him all over their home and filling up their camera rolls with pictures of him they would share for the entire year. It had taken them even longer to settle on a picture of Mac in a gift box as their holiday message to everyone, secretly reminding themselves, they had the cutest baby ever.</p><p>Last year, they had a harder time to get a picture since Mac had just learned about how to walk quickly without fear a few weeks earlier, and was looking for any reason to show off his new skills. They had struggled for the entire day to calm their energetic child, but the only time they could keep him still enough for a picture was when it was dark and time for bed. Amy had quickly set up a camera and Jake had put up some decorative lights in their bedroom as Mac finished up his bottle, putting him in a sleepy state. Managing to have him sit up against them as they took a picture in matching pajamas, they didn’t have to spend time deciding which picture to use, since Mac had fall asleep on their bed after the first two.</p><p>As she looked at the recent picture, she felt his arms snaking around her, hands stopping over her stomach and his head resting against her. Admiring their pictures and already excited for the one they would add next year, he whispered into her ear.</p><p>“You’re so beautiful Ames.”</p><p>She felt her heart warming up more than it already was, and leaning into his touch she smiled looking at all their pictures, also knowing the next one would be incredibly special. Turned her head, she placed her lips against his cheek, letting them linger until she felt Mac’s little hand tapping against her leg. Catching their attention, the toddler looked at the ground shyly before Jake kneeled down and asked him to speak up.</p><p>“Open pwesents now?” He looked towards Amy’s directions and she gave in to the soft puppy eyes yet again, to retain her title as the prettiest person in the world.</p><p>“Just one.” Jake ruffled Mac’s hair before he ran towards the pile of presents under the tree, trying to find one that his name on it.</p><p>“Do you want a present right now too?” Amy looked at Jake with raised brows in an attempt to see him following Mac’s actions only for him to shake his head and put his arm around her.</p><p>“I am just waiting for this one.” His hand carefully touched her stomach, caressing it gently with his thumb and she didn’t stop herself from leaning in to kiss him before they had to supervise Mac opening up his first Christmas gift.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The following year, Amy placed another framed holiday card on the shelf as chaos of baking cookies was taking place once again, but the music and Jake &amp; Mac’s laughter slightly quieter because of the baby slowly dozing off in her arms. Aligning the frame, she admired the photo of her and Jake sitting in front of the fireplace, Mac in her lap, and all of them looking at the new prettiest girl in the world, fast asleep in Jake’s arms.  </em>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all for this one!</p><p>Any kudos/feedback you could leave would be highly appreciated! &lt;3</p><p>Tune in for the last update tomorrow! Any guesses on what it could be about?</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Family (Christmas Morning)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's Christmas morning at the Peralta-Santiago household in this last chapter!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Merry Christmas &amp; Happy Holidays to everyone!<br/>I hope everyone, regardless of whether you celebrate or not, had a wonderful day!<br/>This year has been quite something, but one thing I am grateful for is having you all enjoy my silly writing, it has meant a lot!</p><p>And with that, we've reached the last chapter to this fic! I know family isn't a Christmas object but it felt like the right end these 12 days! I still can't believe I wrote 12 chapters in 12 days and thank you to all the kudos + comments everyone left - they kept me going on! I hope you all enjoy this last update!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amy had the best memories of Christmas morning; waking up to the smell of her mother’s cooking, the excitement to open up presents that would have her up earlier than ever, rushing to wish her parents a Merry Christmas before trying to sneak a present, betting with her brothers on who could finish breakfast the fastest, and then the opening of presents that every kid looked forward to. She would remember Christmases where she would sit in her dad’s lap waiting for him to figure out how to assemble the elaborate dollhouse she had gotten as a gift and the other times she spent running around the house to stop her brothers from taking her presents to tease her, only do the same to them. But what she remembered the most was among the chaos of 8 children running around on Christmas morning, her parents always made sure that as the morning mayhem was over, they would pack themselves in their living room, and everyone would sit around, keeping their new toys aside for some time, playing games and singing together.</p><p>Jake on the other hand, had no holiday memories; his only excitement during the season was for winter break from school which meant no homework, he could stay up all late watching all his favourite movies and TV shows, and eating ice cream or anything else he whenever he wanted. The first few years he had tried to remember what his parents would do for the holidays only for nothing to come up in mind, perhaps because his parents were constantly arguing and if there were any happy moments, he had shoved them so far back in his mind with the horrible ones. All he remembered about the holidays was his mom leaving super early and telling him to wake up only for him to never listen to her, and the same amount of money she would always leave for him to order his favourite pizza for dinner. Christmas morning was like any other morning for him; just him all alone at home letting the time pass until he fell asleep on the couch. The one faint memory that made him smile was the brief moment he would wake up in the middle of the night to feel a blanket being put over him and his mom’s whispered good night before she kissed his forehead.</p><p>Now they had had their own family and their own Christmas mornings.</p><p>The Peralta-Santiago Christmas morning always started off with Jake being the first one up as he let Amy sleep in just long enough for him to brew her the cup of coffee she needed every morning. Jake was never an early riser, but having kids changes how you sleep, in that now he and Amy got to sleep when the kids slept. But Christmas morning was the exception he always made for his wife and kids.</p><p>He always heard Amy’s reminiscent stories about how she loved waking up the smells of cinnamon and sugar, that made her want to run to the kitchen, and he knew it wasn’t the smells of Cinnamon Toast Crunch he would eat on Christmas morning that she was talking about. Jake knew he wasn’t a great cook, but he also knew he wished his kids would one day grow up and tell happy stories about Christmas – that when they thought of dad on Christmas, it would bring a smile to their face, not a sadness.</p><p>So dutifully, he would plug in the fancy earbuds Amy had bought him as a gift two years ago (even after they promised no big gifts in preparing for their daughter’s arrival) and began making breakfast for his family. Jamming out to Taylor Swift, he rolled up the sleeves of his reindeer pajama tops to make the pancakes his wife and kids loved. Diligently working in the kitchen, he didn’t notice when Amy had walked into the kitchen.</p><p>She had woken up to an empty bedside and today was the only time she didn’t mind, knowing there was a steaming hot cup of coffee waiting for her in the kitchen along with her husband (who she would describe just like that coffee). Arms wrapped around herself to keep from the cold as she watched Jake busy at work, using the same focus he used when he was at work to place cinnamon rolls made by his best friend into the oven, which she knew was because she had made a passing comment about loving them. Walking up to him as he turned back to his pancakes, he looked around their kitchen and understanding exactly what he was looking for – which being married for 7 year does – she picked up the cookie cutters off the dish rack. Wrapping her arms around him, stopping him in his search with a smile, she held the two metal objects in front of him.</p><p>“Snowman for Bella and gingerbread man for Mac.”</p><p>Turning to face after taking the cookie cutters, Jake found himself engulfed in his sleepy wife’s arms and he wished he could have stayed there for the entire day as she leaned in to kiss him.</p><p>“Merry Christmas sweetheart.” He mumbled into the top of her while she rested her head on his chest, their fronts meeting so he could put his arms around her.</p><p>“Merry Christmas babe.” She placed her lips against his neck, holding him tight knowing this was moment of peace before their kids woke up and there chaotic Christmas cheer in their home.</p><p>Finally parting back from him when a yawned escaped her, Amy leaned against the counter, watching Jake chuckling in his own amusement as he poured chocolate chip pancake batter filling the outlines of the cookie cutter on the pan, making breakfast in festive shapes for his kids. He really was one of those dads and it took everything in her power to not pull his cheeks, realizing he was above and beyond what either of their dads every did. Seeing him yawn, she forwarded her mug towards him, which he absentmindedly sipped from too busy with his pan. Amy wasn’t lying when she later told their kids it looked like he would once again being fed the gross jellybean flavours from their BeanBoozled game. Quickly apologizing as she bit her tongue to hold back her laugh, she fixed him his type of coffee as he started making pancakes for her sans chocolate chips.</p><p>As he set up their breakfast table, Amy knew she had to double check she had put all the presents under the tree and all the stockings were completely stuffed. Doing her part in the living room, she picked up the cookies and milk the kids had left out for Santa and moved the coffee table aside knowing they needed the space for the kids to open their presents. Bringing out the Christmas themed throws and placing them on their couch, she looked around the house satisfied as Jake pulled out the cinnamon rolls, letting the fragrance of the spice fill their home. Only able to kiss his cheek as a thank you for bringing a piece of childhood into her Christmas morning, she felt his arm linking into hers as he proudly smiled on.</p><p>Walking into their son’s room, they found it empty and look at each other with worried looks before they heard giggles from the room next door belonging to their daughter. Shaking their heads, they walked into Bella’s room finding their two-year-old and five-year-old talking amongst themselves as if hiding a big secret. Clearing his throat, the two kids looked at them like they had been caught hiding cookies Bella’s dresser again but relaxed as Jake brought out his deep Santa voice.</p><p>“Merry Christmas children!”</p><p>Separating themselves as the kids squeals jumping off the bed, Jake immediately kneeled down and had his arms opened for them to fill. Almost knocking the wind out of him as the two kids jumped to give him hugs, yelling Merry Christmas, Amy kneeled down in laughter as the kids turned to her.</p><p>“Merry Christmas Macaroon!” She kissed the top of Mac’s head as he yelled Merry Christmas, clearly this being his favourite day after his birthday.</p><p>“Merry Christmas Bella!” She repeated the same with their daughter who had not inherited the same energy levels as Jake, rather was more like her mother and softly kissed Amy’s cheek before she wished her with an equally soft voice.</p><p>“Mewry Chwistmas mommy!”</p><p>“What about dad?” Jake sat cross legged on the floor with now empty arms and a pout on his face that made Amy remember she had three kids at times.</p><p>“You already got hugs!” And sometimes, she joined in the childish behaviour, especially when it came to getting their children’s attention.</p><p>Bella rushed back to Jake’s arms, casually sitting on his lap and putting her arms around his neck as he grinned proudly at Amy.</p><p>“I’m her favourite!”</p><p>“Mom’s my favourite!” Mac spoke up before Amy had the chance to say anything and Jake looked on offended as it was Amy’s turned to proudly smile while squeezing their son in a tight hug.</p><p>As the children laughed about their parents being silly again, Amy suddenly remembered how they all ended up in the same room and turned to the kids, knowing very well they were up to something.</p><p>“So what were you munchkins doing?”</p><p>As if it was a cue that set them off, Mac and Bella ran back to her bed. Getting off the floor slower than their kids, Jake and Amy shared a look wondering what was going on, a knowingly look that they were about experience the joys of being a parent or the not so fun side of parenting.</p><p>For the first time, they watched both their children shyly shuffling their feet and keeping their eyes lowered as they forwarded a folded paper to them, Mac nudging his baby sister to say “Merry Christmas” with him. Accepting what they realized was a card, they sat down on the tiny toddler bed, Bella once again climbing onto Jake’s lap. Amy opened the card revealing Mac’s kindergarten writing spelling out happy holidays and stick figure drawings of the four of them. He definitely had Jake’s writing and artistic abilities, but what made the parents smile prouder than they had been earlier was the scribbled “from Mac and Bela”, their daughter’s misspelled name written in a pen Mac had clearly picked up earlier this morning. They both knew this was probably a school craft Mac had made before the holidays, but his thoughtful gesture of helping his sister scribble her name onto it made it all the more special.</p><p>“This might be the best present we’ve ever gotten, don’t you think?” Amy looked at Jake while the brother and sister hi-fived at their success.</p><p>“Definitely! It’s best present from the best children.” Sandwiching their kids into a hug, Jake looked up at Amy both wanting to tell the other about amazing their kids were. Carefully closing the card, Amy knew it was going to go up on the fridge and in a special box in her closet after the new year.</p><p>“Now pancakes are getting cold! No one want breakfast today?” Jake picked Bella up as she clapped her hands in excitement, watching Mac run out of the room knowing exactly what was waiting on the breakfast table.</p><p>Less than an hour later, the kitchen was full of empty dishes and fireplace held into empty stockings. Amy had taken up cleaning the kitchen while Jake made sure the kids would be bathed and ready for opening their big presents. They must have really worked out their timing in the last two years as Amy had just taken a seat on the couch when she heard her three favourite people running out of the rooms ready for presents.</p><p>Before they knew it, there was wrapping paper all over the place, the kids had been laughing as they uncovered all the gifts they had gotten. Mac was jumping in front of Amy, asking her to show him how his remote-controlled robot toy worked while Bella was once again seated Jake’s lap, patiently watching him assemble her new activity table asking questions about every part he was adding on and then removing when he misread the instructions.</p><p>Looking eyes from across the room, Jake and Amy shared a serene smile. It was perfect &amp; the day had just begun.</p><p>
  <em>A short while later</em>
</p><p>As candy canes lay on the coffee table, a display of tiny gingerbread houses along their kitchen island, Jake &amp; Amy heard their children singing along to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The bright lights reflected the ribbons, bows, and wrapping paper all over the living room carpet, which they walked past to stand under the mistletoe placed in the corner by their framed holiday cards to sneak a moment away from the kids busy with their toys. 

Soon they were changed from their matching PJs to their matching sweaters and Santa hats, they sat down on the couch with their children in their laps. As snow gently further covered the city outside, the family of four was sipping on Jake’s signature hot chocolate watching Christmas movies.</p><p>In the middle of watching Elf, when Bella was almost asleep against Jake’s chest and Mac was busy in the movie resting on Amy’s arm, Jake glanced over at Amy. Sharing a soft smile with the woman who had every part of his life better, he looked down at their children momentarily before he finally said the words she had never heard in all the years of being with him.</p><p>“I love the holidays.”</p><p>Reaching past their kids, Amy grabbed his hand before they turned back to their movie. She blinked back a tear knowing he had always loved the holidays, but never had a family to make him realize the same. Snuggling in closer to their kids, she ran her free hand over Mac’s hair, feeling lucky enough to be the one to build a family with him. And the gratefulness for their perfect little family just grow more with every Christmas morning.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And that was all I had for this Christmas season! </p><p>I really hope everyone enjoyed it!</p><p>And if you would like to leave any kudos or a comment, I would be so grateful for the extra presents! &lt;3</p><p>Thank you for sticking with me throughout this fic! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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